Habesha Breweries

RECOVERING AFTER A CHALLENGING 2020

HABESHA BREWERIES

2021 BREWING I

t is no secret that the food and beverage industry across the globe has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those businesses that have not shut down have had to hibernate or adapt their services to weather the storm of the past year, and are only 2 | Africa Outlook issue 89

We spoke to the Habesha Breweries team about the food and beverage industry across Ethiopia after a challenging period stemming from the impact of the pandemic Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Donovan Smith

just beginning their recovery with the worldwide rollout of various COVID-19 vaccines.

For Ethiopia, the country has been almost completely closed for international business in multiple sectors, yet surprisingly the food and beverage industry has been one of the

FOOD & DRINK

few that has remained open.

“One of the keys to success in this industry has been to deliver an international quality standard with a local approach,” begins Afel Amberber, Marketing Manager for Habesha Breweries S.C. “The beer industry still has a lot

of untapped opportunity as it only has less than 20 beer brands. With a growing economy, current companies challenging each other to deliver better and pushing the limits, and also potential new entrants into the market, the industry still has a huge potential.”

Founded by 8,000 proud Ethiopian shareholders who were moved by the vision of reaching and connecting with Ethiopians, Habesha Breweries stands as one of the companies at the forefront of the Ethiopian beverage sphere. Starting its product distribution on July 2015, Africa Outlook issue 89 | 3

HABESHA BREWERIES the company has grown rapidly by delivering high quality beers and non-alcoholic malt beverages across Ethiopia and 15 other countries in the world (America, Europe, Asia, Africa).

The brewery is located in Debre Birhan City whereas the head office is located

AT A GLANCE: HABESHA BREWERIES Backed by the international brewer of Bavaria beer- Swinkels Family Brewers, Habesha has been a trend setter in the branding and advertisement arena. As one of the youngest breweries in the country, it became the underdog among competition but rose above the quality standards of beer that many had anticipated. During the past years, Habesha has achieved competitive market leadership in many of its sales locations because of its high-quality taste and impeccable branding. Celebrated for raising the Ethiopian identity, Habesha has positioned itself as a daring force and a recent favourite.

in the capital city Addis Ababa and has more than 400 employees.

“As one of the fastest growing beer companies in Ethiopia, Habesha has become a highly recognised beer brand in the industry,” Afel elaborates.

“In its five years of being in the market, the company has positioned itself as an authentic Ethiopian brand.

The company has worked tirelessly for the spirit of unity and togetherness allowing the brand to build a strong emotional connection with Ethiopians by raising the quality bar of beverages in parallel.”

Afel’s career path had not begun in the food and beverage industry.

Starting in advertising, she worked for different agencies that gave her a foundational knowledge and experience across various sectors.

“It also helped me understand organisational cultures and ways of working of different companies,” she tells us. “This was a big advantage for me that came in handy when I joined the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) world as I had a wide exposure and perspective from different sectors and companies already.”

The company has four SKUs in its portfolio. Its flagship brand Habesha beer is distinguished by its golden colour, rich aroma, and full-bodied taste. With the intention of serving the needs of its consumers who does not want to drink alcohol for different reasons, the company also introduced Negus coffee flavoured non-alcoholic malt in 2019. The company thirdly introduced another beer SKU at the end of 2020 for those who are looking for a smooth and easy to drink beer that has a unique taste with the name of Kidame beer.

The draught SKU of Habesha beer was also introduced at the same time expanding the reach of the Habesha brand even broader.

LEHUI always concentrates on the design, innovation, manufacture and installation of stainless steel vessels, pipes, electrical, automation, brewing processing equipment and aseptic filling machines. Its products are commonly used in the industry of beer, wine, liquor, water, beverage, diary, pharmacy and biology. Lehui are one of few enterprises with the ability to provide turn-key solutions for green-field projects.

In November 2017, the company’s shares were listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (stock code: 603076).

In 2019, Lehui International was again recognised by China Light Industry Associations as the top 10 of Chinese liquid food equipment manufacturers, and top 10 of Chinese craft beer equipment producers.

In order to better enhance the capabilities of both product research & development and product service, the company has established subsidiaries in a UK office (Leeds), an office in Myanmar (Yangon), companies in Germany (Ahaus), Mexico (Monterrey), India (Vadodara), Nigeria (Lagos), Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) and Brazil (Sao Paulo).

Currently, more than 1,500 employees are working for Lehui worldwide, including over 260 engineering technicians and more than 100 colleagues in Germany, Mexico, India and Ethiopia.

Lehui has 12 years experience of executing projects in Africa, including three successful turn-key projects.

International qualifications and certifications: • Lehui has been certified with ISO 9000 and its products have been granted with highest state-quality awards.

• Lehui has been certified with ASME, PED, GOST, AS1210.

• Lehui has been certified with ATEX, explosion proof PED, GOST, AS1210.

• Lehui has production licenses for pressure vessels and installation licenses for pressure pipelines.

• Lehui has more than 100 invention and utility patents.

• Lehui has been continuously granted with the highest credit level for enterprise.

Afel Amberber, Marketing Manager for Habesha Breweries S.C. 4 | Africa Outlook issue 89

LEHUI

Awash wine Diageo Komari beverage

BGI Habesha SAB

30

Dashen Heineken UCB

86 400-8284040

sales@lehui.com

251-930795931

weicong@lehui.com

234-8169393395

bianjiangtao@lehui.com

HABESHA BREWERIES

“Most of our clients at the agencies I worked for were in the food and beverage sector as it was one of the most competitive industries in the country. There was, and is, stiff competition in the area, so companies invested behind their brands to win the market. The vibrancy of the industry made me interested to directly join the sector. Habesha is a brand that I was always fascinated with (even before I joined the company) as it has been transforming the beer industry since its launch.”

As a marketer, Afel was drawn into Habesha’s unique branding, emotivebased communication, and highquality end-to-end execution - it was from this that she decided to apply for 6 | Africa Outlook issue 89

and join the company.

This unique branding allows Habesha Breweries to stand out in the Ethiopian food and beverage industry.

The company has made the effort to differentiate its offerings starting from conception, from which it has focused on differentiating its

end-to-end consumer experience.

The company challenged the thought behind the notion that products have to be imported to meet the quality standard by producing a consistently good product over the years. It also introduced thermochromic technology in the label of a Habesha beer. This allows the label to change colour when the beer is at an optimal temperature to guarantee a perfect serve – a revolutionary change in the beverage market in Ethiopia.

“Habesha joined the market with branding and communication that truly connects with its customer base, as it portrays Ethiopian assets and values though the brand personality,” Afel explains.

“The brand knows who its audience is: Ethiopians proud of their identity, culture and traditions that is maintained by a nation that was never colonised. The brand is dedicated to show this national pride to the rest of the world.”

This factor created an instant connection with the customer base and let it stand out as it continues to do so today.

“The black and gold brand colours are bold and appealing; black was a colour that was perceived to show darkness and sadness in the Ethiopian culture. The brand was bold enough to challenge this perception and change it,” Afel tells us proudly.

“The company also challenged the status quo around distribution

QuaLabels Manufacturers PLC is a leading Company in the Packaging and Printing Industry in Ethiopia. A business-tobusiness (B2B) venture that started in 2016 and has evolved by supporting its customers’ growth, every time!

Our success mainly lays on our core strength of humbly understanding our customers’ short terms and long terms goals and maintaining continuous dialogues to address them accordingly.

QuaLabels is an indigenous company that has heavily invested in state-of-the art machineries from world renowned manufacturers that provide the most reliable packaging capability and production efficiency.

QuaLabels has continued growing its customer base by expanding and diversifying its portfolio through a continuous investment strategy that provides a competitive edge. From paper packaging for pharmaceuticals, personal care and beer labels production, that has evolved in an extended portfolio comprising plastic film labels for soft drinks, water and juices’ production incorporating plastic film packaging for snacks, coffee export, powder detergents, confectionaries, spices and more.

Our most important asset are our amazing diverse people with outstanding work ethics: gender-balanced, great combination of young and seasoned employees, mostly local with few expatriate mentors ensuring the continuous transfer of skills through a strong succession planning strategy.

Quality comes as a top priority in everything we do which is the reason why our company is predominantly called Qua for Quality and Labels for labels. We cannot compromise on Quality and we will always meet and exceed customers’ expectations.

At QuaLabels, we believe in supporting our local communities by creating job opportunities while developing youth’s capacity and building a sustainable infrastructure that ensures environmental benefits.

QuaLabels is proud to be “The World Class Local Commercial Labels and Packaging materials Supplying Partner” to Habesha Breweries S. C. Ethiopia.

Company Vision “To Become the World Class Local Commercial Labels and Packaging materials Supplying Partner” Company Mission Statement “To Be the Most trusted and Reliable Supply partner with outstanding customer service, on time delivery at the most competitive price”

P. O. Box 3121, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia T: +251 -11-667 9631 | E: info@QuaLabels.com | www.QuaLabels.com

HABESHA BREWERIES

PEOPLE-CENTRIC OPERATIONS Girum Negussie, Acting Human Resource Director at Habesha Breweries: “We believe that people are at the hub of our business providing competitive edge and enabling continuous growth. To this end, we are always committed to provide an environment of trust, collaboration and excellence which are based on our core values. We provide a culture of continuous capability development in which our people do have an opportunity to bring their own initiatives and creativity to the workplace.

Our performance and reward management systems are also intertwined and designed in a way to recognise and reward people based on their contribution to the business.”

8 | Africa Outlook issue 89

model while entering the market.

Before Habesha came to the market, all breweries started distribution after 9am in the morning. Habesha introduced the discipline for the sales trucks to be present at the outlets at 6am in the morning before the competition arrived. This was to make sure the available cash the outlets were willing to spend on the category was spent on Habesha’s brands.”

And Habesha’s innovative branding is incorporated into its many company projects. A prime example of this is Habesha’s Kidame beer; a beverage conceived with the vision of giving the market a beer product that is different from what already exists in the market.

“The beer market has been adding lager beer brands that tastes similar to already existing ones,” Afel says.

“As a result, the company saw an opportunity for a slightly different tasting lager beer that is easy to drink and smooth. In addition, it also saw that most brands in the market have a serious tone of voice and only few brands embody a humorous brand personality.

Therefore, as Kidame means ‘Saturday’ in Amharic, the brand has a fun, friendly, relaxed, and witty personality.

“The product was launched in November 2020 and has already reached 158 cities as of March 2021.”

Further into the project development sphere, Habesha is also currently expanding its barley chain development programme with a target set to become locally selfsufficient in the supply of barley, (its primary ingredient), in the year 2023.

To achieve this, Habesha have embarked on the comprehensive development programme since 2018, involving all the members of the company supply chain, from seed input to harvesting. The programme has involved training local farmers on proper agronomical practices, prefinancing inputs and outputs, working together with the world bank group to introduce new barley varieties, all with the aim of increasing current farm yields from average of four tonnes to six tonnes annually. Omo Ohiwerei, Operations Director at Habesha Breweries, elaborates.

“This programme is also a factor towards our business sustainability objectives because it creates a real economy and a sense of livelihood for the farmers while at the same time ensuring business opportunity for Habesha breweries,” he assures us.

On top of this, the Habesha brewery plant in Debre Birhan has expanded its capacity with the introduction of a draught line as part of its packaging installations. The facility boasts all of the modern units that are prevalent within the industry.

“With the proper training of its operators and an installation programme that ran for six weeks, the company commissioned the plant in November 2020, and created the best draught beer that Ethiopia can offer,” Ohiwerei tells us proudly.

“The production line is also in a modular format and can be expanded as required, depending on sales

FOOD & DRINK

demand and growth of the Habesha draught product line.”

As in many service-based sectors, partner and supplier relationships are incredibly important to the success of businesses in the food and beverage industry.

Habesha Breweries has a robust supply chain operation that includes the systems used, structures and processes in planning and executing the flow of goods and services from our suppliers and ultimately to our customers. To maximise effectiveness, we evaluate both internal operations and the extended supply chain that includes suppliers and customers.

“We have a strong and healthy relationships with our suppliers and gain better value for our business,” affirms Samson Shiberu, Procurement Manager at Habesha Breweries.

“Through the developed relationships we are able to attain a very good service, preferential pricing and special terms that have a direct impact in Habesha’s success.

“Habesha Breweries is also engaged in sustainability as its core corporate KPI that is also related to its supply chain operations. This includes environmental, economic and social developments. Among others sourcing of raw materials from local suppliers

mainly barely. We develop the farmers by providing them financial and technical support and play a key role in our supply chain source.”

These positive partner and supplier relationships are key to Habesha’s continued success into the future, and in the years ahead the company is focused on making back what has been lost during the past year. This aim to rebuild business and revenue, as well as the company’s innovative branding, and customer and employee-centric attitude has pushed Habesha Breweries to the fore of the Ethiopian beverage sector. With a promising future ahead of it, Habesha is one to watch.

HABESHA BREWERIES Tel: 0116625655/0118694291 www.habeshabreweries.com

Africa Outlook issue 89 | 9

HABESHA BREWERIES Habesha Brewery S.C Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Bole subcity, Wereda 03, house number 2321 P.O.Box 197 code 1251 Tel: 0116625655/0118694291 www.habeshabreweries.com PRODUCED BY AFRICA OUTLOOK MAGAZINE