Obamamania in a beer glass

Let’s hope the anti-alcohol lobby does not read this. In their eyes, any form of alcohol is bad. However, some alcohol is worse than others and for as long as consumers continue to enjoy a nightcap or two, governments have to make sure somehow that their voters are protected from toxic moonshine.

That was the case in Kenya, where for years consumers had had to turn to cheap traditional spirits that on several occasions turned lethal. The incidence of drink-related blindness and death is said to have been extremely high.

Despite years of economic growth, more than half of Kenya’s population of 32 million still lives on less than a dollar a day. Mainstream Kenyan alcohol brands, like EABL’s top-selling Tusker beer which sells for USD 1 to USD 3 a bottle, are out of reach for most.

Filling the gap are small-scale distillers who have developed an array of low-priced spirits and moonshine known in Swahili as busaa and chang’aa. These spirits are estimated to account for about half of consumption.

So East African Breweries Limited (EABL), in which drinks group Diageo/Guinness holds a stake, spotted a market opportunity for a cheap beer that is also safe.

The result: Senator keg beer, known simply by drinkers as “Obama”.

The beer proved so popular that ministers in 2006 waived all duty on Senator, which sells at about EUR 0.10 a glass – only slightly more than local moonshine.

The beer is available on draught and served at ambient temperatures.

In 2008, Senator beer ran to over one million hl in sales. This year, volumes are expected to rise to almost 2 million hl – in a market that represented 4.5 million hl beer in 2007 according to the Barth Report.