Thirst For Craft Beer Feeds Micro-Brewers’ Growth In South Africa

Written by Kevin Mwanza

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In South Africa, a country with a strong beer culture, consumers have traditionally opted for mass-produced beer products from South African Breweries  — a subsidiary of SABMiller, the world’s second-largest brewer that accounts for more than 90 percent of the country’s beer market.

But that is quickly changing going by the number of micro-breweries that have popped up with specialized blends of new beer flavors. Bloomberg Africa TV reports that the number of such micro-brewers has more than doubled in the last three years to nearly 50 and now account for slightly over 1 percent of the market share.

Inspired by an international boom for local, independent microbreweries, the business of craft beer, which is normally produced by independent breweries on a much smaller scale than the multinationals, has taken off in South Africa recently.

A  growing numbers of small producers have started making a mark on the market by blending local ingredients to try and achieve unique and distinctive flavors that are quickly winning consumers’ taste buds.

“There is such a (huge) demand for beer right now,” Andrew Martin, owner of SMACK! Republic Brewing Company, told Bloomberg Africa TV in an interview.

“Even if we had a breweries that was six times as big as this we won’t satisfy the demand that is there right now.”

Top 10 quirky craft breweries in South Africa via Food24

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