Kenyans troop back to bars, lift alcohol sales

East African Breweries Plc (EABL) which on Thursday reported a 131 per cent growth in half-year profitability to December 2021 for instance saw its net sale jump by 23.5 per cent to Ksh.54.9 billion.

Growth for the alcohol manufacturer was the highest in the second quarter at 16.8 per cent in a period coinciding with both the end of the night-time curfew and the Christmas festivities.

According to EABL Managing Director Jane Karuku, pre-pandemic patterns favouring the on-location business have returned with Kenyans opting for bars and other entertainment joints in place of the pandemic driven trends such as drinking at home.

“I think we are almost back to the old levels of split. Consumers in Kenya from an alcohol perspective consume for social reasons and a lot of people want to go out with their friends,” she said.

EABL says its on-trade/on-location business is nearly twice as large as the off-trade and that it wouldn’t expect to see any significant shifts going into the future.

This means that consumption trends that emerged during the pandemic may be diminished in the new normal.

Over the past two years, off-trade businesses including on-line alcohol deliveries and wines and spirits stores had taken root in most neighbourhoods as COVID-19 restrictions forced revellers to drink at home.

Even so, EABL says it is not stepping back on off-trade channel investments as it sets to rebrand its own online marketplace of alcoholic drinks to V-Bar (virtual bar).

“We have a very strong route to market across the region. We will keep existing in both on and off-trade including emerging channels because we don’t know what will be the new trend,” added Ms. Karuku.

Backed by the re-opening of bars, EABL has kept up innovation in new products to respond to changing customer tastes and preferences to sustain its growth momentum.

The firm booked a double digit growth across its various broad portfolios including beer-17 per cent, mainstream spirits- 25% and premium 18 per cent.

Its new products portfolio including the Senator Keg brand meanwhile grew the fastest at 49 per cent.

Barring any market shocks, EABL expects to remain on the growth curve including higher sales volumes in the near term.

“This performance and momentum can continue as long as the COVID-19 pandemic does not give us a long left-hander,” Jane Karuku said.