SABMiller launches a cassava beer

If they can brew a clear beer with sorghum, why can't they do it with cassava? Actually, SABMiller seem to have come up with a way of doing it. In an effort to provide consumers with an affordable beer, SABMiller at the end of October 2011 put the first cassava-based beer, called Impala Cerjeva, into the Mozambique market.

By using cassava – a drought resistant root vegetable rich in starch – to brew beer, SABMiller will be commercialising a technique used by Africans for generations to brew beer at home.

The cassava root plays an important role in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa because it does well in poor soils and with low rainfall, and because it is a perennial that can be harvested all year round. However, once dug out of the ground cassava perishes within 24 hours unless it is processed. In Africa farmers usually chip and dry it. But that is not a feasible commercial option.

Therefore, SABMiller has partnered with DADTCO, the Dutch Agricultural Development and Trading Company, which has pioneered a mobile processing unit which travels to the cassava growing regions and processes the root in situ, preserving the integrity of the starch. As we understand, the cassava root is peeled and pulped and put into an airtight container so that it will keep for several months, thanks to its low pH value.

In Mozambique, cassava grows in abundance – so much that after feeding the people there is enough left for brewing. SABMiller said they would use about 40,000 tonnes of raw cassava from more than 1,500 smallholder farmers each year in the production of Impala

Impala is a clear lager-type beer with a cassava content of about 70 percent and is pitted against local informal spirits.

"We estimate that the volume of the informal, unregulated alcohol market across Africa could be up to four times that of the formal market," said Mark Bowman, Managing Director of SABMiller's African operations.

Mr Bowman expects the new brand to contribute about 10 percent of its annual sales in Mozambique over the next two to three years.

In recognition of the potential long-term contribution that the brand will make to the agricultural and economic development of the country, the Government of Mozambique has agreed to a reduced excise rate for Impala.

This, along with the reduced input costs provided by the use of locally grown cassava, allows a 550 ml bottle of Impala to be sold for 25 meticais (USD 0.93) which equals to a retail price 30 price points below a mainstream lager, it was reported.

The beer will be made by SABMiller’s subsidiary Cervejas de Mocambique at its brewery in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula, SABMiller said.

Mozambicans consume around 8 litres of beer per capita each year, excluding beer brewed at home, suggesting that there's still plenty of room for growth.