Since 2018, Guinness Cameroon, a subsidiary of the British group Diageo, has spent more than 13 million euros to source cereals.
The 4,500 sorghum producers in northern Cameroon can rejoice in their collaboration with Guinness Cameroon. For five years, the subsidiary of the British group Diageo has been fully supplied with this cereal from their cooperatives – the Regional Council of Farmers’ Organizations of the Northern part of Cameroon and the Cooperative Marketing Company of Northern Cereals -, to make Harp Premium brand beer. “It is brewed with more than 75% of local materials [sorghum, sugars and ethanol, editor’s note]“, maintains Andrew Ross, the boss of Guinness Cameroon in remarks relayed by the pan-African newspaper.
Thanks to this partnership with the country’s second-largest brewer, their annual revenues average 2.8 billion CFA francs (4.26 million euros) per year. Since 2018, the company has spent 8.7 billion CFA francs to purchase nearly 34,000 tonnes of grain. The brewer also provides farmers with improved seeds and builds water points. Guinness has for its part invested more than 3 billion CFA francs to adapt its production line.
Corn and barley to come
“It makes sense for our company to establish strong relationships with local suppliers, in order to reduce logistics costs, secure and diversify our supply chain, improve quality control, reduce our tax exposure and to be protected from fluctuations in exchange rates which can significantly affect the cost of goods, ”explains Andrew Ross.
To perpetuate its relations with local farmers, the subsidiary of Diageo and Cameroonian cooperatives are planning to extend companionship with the cultivation of maize, interesting for its starch production. And why not imagine one day growing barley in Cameroon …?
What do we know about Guinness?
Guinness is a brand of beer as well as an Irish brewery. Founded in 1759, it has grown into a world-class company with the acquisition in 1986 of Distillers Company, a Scottish group that owns the whiskey brands Johnnie Walker, Ballantine’s and Chivas Regal. Guinness PLC disappeared in 1997, when the company Diageo PLC was created by merger and acquisition with Grand Metropolitan. Guinness is a stout, a dark beer with a white head, known worldwide for its flavor and appearance. individuals. Guinness is strongly linked to the history of Ireland, it is one of its symbols at the international level. The historic St. James Brewery, founded in 1759, is located in Dublin. Guinness has established subsidiaries in many countries around the world including Cameroon.
In this country, the beer brand has found a new ingredient allowing it to improve the quality of its product: sorghum from North Cameroon.
