Heineken, the world’s second-largest beer maker, has launched a $160 million brewery in Ivory Coast, West Africa.
The new state-of-the-art brewery, named “Brassivoire,” has a staff strength of about 200 and a capacity to produce 160 million liters of beer per year, according to CNN.
The brewery is expected to operate using local materials, such as rice and malted barley, in the brewing process.
Figures from the International Monetary Fund reveal that the Ivory Coast, with a population of 23 million people an annual growth rate of 8 percent, is Africa’s fastest-growing economy.
The country’s beer market is currently dominated by French beer maker Castel, which enjoys a near monopoly on the 270 million liters of beer consumed annually in the country.
At the inauguration, Heineken CEO Jean-Francois Van Boxmeer said that the new factory is part of the company’s strategy to gain entry and establish a solid hold on an important emerging market like the Ivory Coast.
“It marks a major milestone in our regional strategy, showing that Africa is full of opportunities and very much part of the company’s future growth.
“It has a young population, a high rate of urbanization — almost 50 percent already — a dynamic economy and there is only one player so far,” Boxmeer said.
Heineken says, in addition to its flagship Heineken brand, it took the time to craft a unique beer to enable the company to penetrate the Ivorian market.
Ivoire beer. Photo credit: Just Drinks
The beer, which it calls “Ivoire,” was developed for local tastes and will retail for about 500 francs ($0.81) in 60 cl bottles.
“We researched for years,” says Brassivoire General Manager Alexander Koch. “We developed the bottle, the name, the color code, even the recipe together with the Ivorian consumer.
“The Ivoire brand has had an incredibly good reception (from) the Ivorian consumer. We are currently running at full capacity and will bring forward some of our investments to meet demand,” Koch said.
Heineken says when fully operational, the Brassivoire brewery, which is located in an industrial zone just outside the capital of Abidjan, will generate 700 direct jobs and another 40,000 indirect jobs.
Research published by Global Data reveals that Africa is by far the fastest-growing market for beer consumption in the world; the region enjoys a 5 percent annual growth figure compared with 3 percent for Asia and less than 1 percent for Western Europe.
Experts add that those figures are expected to grow in the coming years.
