ACHIEVEMENTS LEADING TO SUCCESS ACROSS
Produced
by
Jassen Pintado
Written
by
Mateo Rafael Tablado
Art direction Omar Rodríguez
Interviewee
Fernando Figiacone, Vice President of Supply Chain in Africa for ABInBev
Alignment with best practices and global standards contribute to surpass different challenges faced across the territory, enabling a sustainable operation in brewing, completely invested in its surrounding communities
The origins of ABInBev in Africa go back to 1895, when the Castle Brewery was created by founder brewer Charles Glass in Johannesburg, South Africa (RSA). It only took two years before the company was listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange.
In 1950, the brewery’s corporate headquarters were moved from London to Johannesburg, with the purpose of achieving growth and expansion. Five years later, the Ohlsson’s and Chandler breweries were acquired by Castle, renaming the group as South African Breweries (SAB) EXPANSION ACROSS THE
CONTINENT
Besides arriving in Zimbabwe soon after, the most prominent expansion era for SAB took place during the
late 1990s, as the company grew into Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia through different ventures.
After acquiring SABMiller in September 2016, ABInBev brought along global brands Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois, now popular on the entire continent.
ABINBEV ACROSS AFRICA TODAY
“ABInBev Africa represents one of the shining lights within ABInBev, globally. There are so many achievements to be proud of”, stated Fernando Figiacone, Vice President of Supply in Africa for ABInBev.
ABInBev’s operations in Africa take place across eleven countries through three main territorial business units:
• The West territory encompasses Ghana and Nigeria. Focus brands in this area include Club, Hero, Trophy and Budweiser beers.
ABInBev Africa represents one of the shining lights within ABInBev, globally.
There are so many achievements to be proud of
- Fernando Figiacone, Vice President of Supply in Africa for ABInBev
• Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda belong to the Southeast unit. Main brands in this territory include Kilimanjaro, Mosi, 2M, St Louis and Club.
• The South territory is formed by Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Brutal Fruit, Budweiser, Carling Black Label, Castle Lager, Castle Lite, Corona, Flying Fish (who recently created a flavored spritzer), Stella
Artois and Hansa are the key brands in the South.
In South Africa alone, the company provides 7,000 jobs, supporting a beer value chain from seed to sip of more than 250,000 individuals and ultimately contributing to over 1, 000, 000 livelihoods. With raw materials sourced from more than 1,200 farmers, SAB is able to produce a 30 million hL volume, exporting 14
brands into 28 different countries across Africa, besides exporting to countries in different continents.
Boosted by new breweries opened in Mozambique and Nigeria during the last three years, in 2021 the company reached a 50 million hL production across the continent.
Recent investments include a stateof-the-art malting facility in Zambia, and also investment in a takeover of a glass manufacturing facility in South Africa, securing supplies for bottle production.
In the wake of economic uncertainty and the need for recovery, SAB recently reaffirmed its commitment to ignite the South African economy as it pledges to invest to R4.5bn – adding impact to an industry that already contributes 1.3% of the national GDP
During 2018, the brewery launched Brutal Fruit Ruby Apple Spritzer, which became the largest selling
We ended a strong 2021 with growth. We will continue to push for the same performance going forward
- Fernando Figiacone, Vice President of Supply in Africa for ABInBev
innovation ever in the continent, growing total brand volume by 40% and driving double-digit growth.
“We ended a strong 2021 with growth in volume, revenue and EBITDA. We will continue to push for the same performance going forward,” the executive said.
A LONG TENURE IN BREWING PROVIDING LEADERSHIP
Fernando Figiacone graduated from the Catholic University of Argentina as an Industrial Engineer. Figiacone also earned a postgraduate degree in Food & Beverage Marketing from the University of Belgrano (Argentina) and a Master in Company from the University of San Andrés (also in Argentina).
Other postgraduate studies taken by Figiacone include Supply Chain Training in MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Stanford
University and Darden University, all of these as part of ABInBev between 2015 and 2021.
UP TO GLOBAL STANDARDS
Operations in Africa bring along different challenges due to the infrastructure in some countries, as well as other factors such as commodity fluctuations and worsening currency exchange rates. To these common situations, the COVID-19 pandemic brought additional burdens to logistics and lead times.
“These are part of the challenges faced, but they are also what excites us and drives us to perform,” Figiacone explained.
The strong management systems in place across ABInBev Africa bring the company to the same level as all zones, globally. Constant training, adoption of best practices and KPI
THOROUGH INVOLVEMENT WITH LOCAL SUPPLIERS
As part of the historic merger conditions when ABInBev purchased SAB Miller, SAB committed to invest R1billion ($70m) into SA economy by the end of 2021 in three key areas of investment spend: Agricultural Development, Enterprise and Supplier Development, and Societal Upliftment initiatives.
Efforts have been consistent, as in the last five years the company invested more than $93.5 million in procurement with Black-owned
From 2017 to 2021, investments of more than $13 million have helped agricultural development programs. The company’s commitment to enterprise and supplier development, local procurement and local businesses has allowed for the creation of programs such as the SAB Thrive Fund, not only becoming tracking has enhanced its leadership, increasing autonomy across every team and successfully achieving benchmark levels. Notable areas which have become optimized include logistics, supply and the development of a returnable glass bottle system, among others.
businesses. Also, 95% of procurement is spent through suppliers with significant ratings in respect to local business empowerment.
In 2020 alone, the company invested nearly $6.6 million and $5 million in Supplier and Enterprise Development Initiatives, respectively.
These programs have enabled the company to help develop and train nearly 1,000 emerging farmers, increasing the local barley, hops and corn production feeding the supply chain.
The challenges faced are also what drives us to perform
- Fernando Figiacone, Vice President of Supply in Africa for ABInBev
a transformation factor within the company’s supply chain, but also providing much-needed jobs in local communities.
GLOBAL SUPPORT AND CONTINENTAL COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS
Support from ABInBev through global programs contribute to increasing efficiency in the three business units forming ABInBev Africa. The Voyager Plant Optimization program deploys best practices and standardization of operations. The program evolves continuously, improving and certifying every process, leading to a safe, sustainable operation of every production plant.
Also, the Africa zone head office,
based in South Africa, oversees every business unit, playing an essential role of support regarding supply, logistics, procurement, finance and people management.
“We have been able to optimize our operations despite operating in hugely challenging environments,” said the executive.
HIGHLY-SKILLED WORKFORCE
Personnel working at ABInBev Africa develop unique skills after undergoing demanding training. The company can easily state that its staff is comprised of some of Africa’s finest, most brilliant individuals, whose sense of commitment and ownership drives them towards delivering excellence in execution despite any challenges
faced. Hence, the company strives to maintain a low turnover rate.
BETTER USE OF RESOURCES, IMPROVED CONDITIONS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY
Along its tenure operating in Africa, ABInBev has found out that, as there are many resources that may seem to provide an infinite supply of ingredients for brewing, the reality is that these coveted commodities must be managed wisely to ensure their availability for time to come.
One of the areas which has improved noticeably within the company’s drive to sustainability set to 2025 is the efficient management of
from the municipality. The company set the goal of improving conditions with possible solutions to water restrictions challenging communities in Mozambique and Namibia.
On a related matter, the company has set a goal for 2025 to use 100% of returnable or recycled packaging. In Ghana and Nigeria possible solutions are being tested to increase recycled water resources, as during the last five years water usage has been reduced by 20%. The company, partnering with organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund has improved conditions of water availability in communities across the continent where it operates. One of the successful efforts is the borehole dug for the Caledon Maltings facility, reducing demand
content in PET. Tanzania is already experiencing PET-less bottling with brands such as Grand Malt being packaged in recyclable cans.
On its behalf, the Zambia branch created the Manja Pamodzi project, aimed to improve sanitation and hygiene through waste collection. The 815 collector program boasts 76% women, adding more than 14,000
tons of waste collected. Meanwhile, in South Africa, the EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) program will allow an efficient management of single use and returnable products, thus implementing circular economy initiatives within communities.
Regarding the energy used to brew and bottle ABInBev products, the company set the goal of obtaining
100% of electricity from renewable sources, and enforcing a 25% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions across its value chain. This feat seems to be approached on time, as the seven Castle Lite breweries in South Africa already operate with solar power, and only in 2021 these generated more than
14 GWh of electric power, reducing CO2 emissions by 12,443 tons. And in Johannesburg, the Alrode brewery is powered by bio-gas.
These results have prompted ABInBev into announcing the global goal of achieving net zero emissions across its value chain by 2040.
“Sustainable development is a massive focus for our business as it is for many other businesses,” Figiacone remarked.
EVERY RESOURCE TO ACHIEVE UPCOMING GOALS
ABInBev Africa has a ten-year plan in place to increase its capacity in different countries through different flexible projects. The goal for 2022 is reaching 500,000 hL of product exported across Africa.
“Our mission is to support Africa’s growth, by producing the best African Beers with pride, through a highly engaged team, improving performance year over year. The focus is to further improve our performance reaching a very high utilization of our assets, and enabling our expansion capacity to support our zone and global growth strategy,” finalized Fernando Figiacone, Vice President of Supply Chain in Africa for ABInBev.
www.ab-inbev.com fernando.Figiacone@za.ab-inbev.com
www.ab-inbev.com
fernando.Figiacone@za.ab-inbev.com