The Spirit of Life
PROJECT DIRECTED BY
WRITTEN BY
Malvern Kandemwa
Romana Moares
Uganda Breweries Its product portfolio has grown over the years from its flagship product Bell Lager launched in 1950, to consists of 10 beer brands, 42 spirit brands, 3 ready-to-drink brands and 1 non- alcoholic beverage. UBL brands include: Uganda Waragi, Tusker Malt, Pilsner, White Cap, White Cap Light, Senator, Guinness, Allsopps and President Lager.
UBL has a rich talent pool of some of the best trained people. It directly employs over 390 staff.
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Being part of East African Breweries plc (EABL), the company has an important role to play. With breweries, distilleries, support industries and a distribution network across the region, the group’s diversity is an important factor in delivering the highest quality brands to East African consumers and long-term value to East African investors.
UBL has a rich talent pool of some of the besttrained people. It directly employs over 390 staff but indirectly creates employment for thousands more through its vast supply and distribution chain.
The Spirit of Life Uganda Breweries Ltd has become one of the greatest and truly Ugandan brands dedicated to celebrating and transforming lives in the country. Despite the global pandemic, the company has recorded significant growth over the last two years.
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Issue 104 · Business Enquirer Magazine
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ganda Breweries Limited (UBL), through East African Breweries Limited (EABL), a subsidiary of Diageo, one of the world’s largest producers of spirits and beers, has been a leading brewer in Uganda since it began operations in 1946. Located in Port Bell Luzira on the outskirts of Kampala, the brewery is being continuously modernised and its operating capacity expanded. The plant has a total brewing capacity of 1,000,000 hectolitres per year, set to grow by 50% with on-going investment in an expansion of the brewhouse.
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Uganda Breweries Seven decades of growth The history of the company provides insights into the challenges and the opportunities facing corporate Uganda. The first Managing Director was a Dane and all the first directors of the new company were Europeans. The first drink produced by the new company came off the line in 1950 with a new, mild beer called “Bell Brand”. For the next six decades, Bell would become the flagship brand of UBL and for many, almost synonymous with the company itself. All through the second half of the 20th century, the company grew to cement its position as an important employer and the leading player in its sector in the domestic market. With the new millennium came new investment and refreshing changes. In 2010, following a major investment in new technology, the plant’s output was doubled, and Bell, the venerable brand, saw a new look launched in 2011. For 61 years the beer had been packed in a European-style bottle. From then on, it would be packaged in a “long neck” bottle. In the same year, a new 100ml PET bottle for Uganda Waragi was introduced into the market with the strap line “The Spirit that Binds Us.” The new bottle saw sales increase by 17%. In 2014, Uganda Breweries started to focus more than ever on the higher-value segment of the market. On average the higher-end brands, particularly the spirits, tended to yield a better profit margin than most of the beers. In June 2014, Smirnoff Ice Double Black was launched and its target market was the urban male consumer, while Senator Stout was launched in 2015 in 500ml and 300 ml bottles. The task facing UBL management for the second decade of the new millennium is to grow the beer market, where volumes are key, as well as to develop the more lucrative spirits market.
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Issue 104 · Business Enquirer Magazine
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In the right spirit The UBL product portfolio boasts 56 products, all expertly brewed to international standards. It also includes some of the world’s leading whiskies, stouts, beers and gins. The company is proud to be the custodian of leading global spirit brands; many of them have stood the test of time, spanning centuries. UBL offers single grain, single malt and blended whiskies, gins, brandies, rum, among others. Its global reach is matched by the broad portfolio of international and local brands - the company is a custodian of the top two largest spirits brands in the world, Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff, and 20 of the world’s top 100 spirits brands.
Uganda Breweries brands continue to play a role in the life of its consumers as the company leads the redefinition of the landscape for the alcohol industry in Uganda. As a brewer and a distiller, UBL also promotes responsible drinking with highly successful campaigns such as the Red Card campaign against underage consumption and drink-driving. The company is corporately committed to continuing to play a positive role in society, especially through sustainable domestic value creation. In addition to providing access to clean, safe water to more than two million Ugandans since 2013, the company, under its Local Raw Material programme, guarantees a market to over 17,000 farmers for locally grown grain and employs over 22,000 people along its supply and distribution value chain.
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Beverages Feature Other programmes that contribute to the enhancement of Uganda’s environment are on-going. In 2019 Uganda Breweries Limited launched a campaign that seeks to rally corporate companies to come together and respond to the growing concern of deforestation in the country, in a bid to foster sustainable development and sustainable production. Awarded performance The effort that the company has put into its products and its environment has not gone unnoticed. Just recently, Uganda breweries received two awards at the Diageo Global Supply Chain and Procurement Awards: the Brewery of the Year Award and the Excellence in Health, Safety and Wellbeing Award for Financial Year 2020/2021.
Uganda Breweries ty focus while operating and working around heavy equipment, flammable and hazardous materials at the brewery,” he said. Last year UBL celebrated its 75th anniversary, an important milestone proving the company’s strength and resilience. Now, the company has placed its eyes firmly on its 100th anniversary. As Uganda’s heritage brand, its ambition is to be the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products company in the country. www.ugandabreweries.com
Mr. Alfred Balikagira, the Supply Chain Director at UBL commented: “The drive for continuous improvement that is embedded in everything we do has made it possible to achieve these awards.” “These awards are a further demonstration of ownership by our shop floor team of being able to translate the manufacturing best practices into their day-to-day execution routines with every one walking the talk. It’s this culture of ownership that will ensure we sustain and continue to excel as a business and remain as the market leaders within the industry.” The Excellence in Health, Safety and Wellbeing Award is a testament to the brewery’s having been one of the safest work places in the world since time immemorial. In 2020, UBL celebrated 8 years of no Lost Time Accidents (LTA). Ron Miti, the health and safety manager at UBL, celebrated the milestone as an indication of growing personal safety and engagement through leadership at all levels of the business. “This is even more impressive considering the employees took it upon themselves and kept their safe-
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Uganda Breweries + www.ugandabreweries.com
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