Heineken Sierra Leone

Heineken in Sierra Leone
The local sourcing of Sorghum by the Sierra Leone Brewery Limited (SLBL)

Roos Apotheker

1

Content
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Introduction to the business .......................................................................................... 3 Supplier profile ............................................................................................................ 4 Business drivers for starting up Local Sourcing ................................................................ 6 What are the required ingredients for doing local sourcing: conditions and steps? ................ 6 What are the costs and the returns for businesses .......................................................... 10 Incentives for small scale farmers ................................................................................ 11 Conclusions and challenges ahead ................................................................................ 13

2

1. Introduction to the business
The Sierra Leone Brewery Limited (SLBL) was established in Freetown in 1962. During the civil war (1991 -2002) the brewery was destroyed and used as quarters by the rebels from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). After the war investments and rebuilding took place to get the brewery up and running again. Since then production is increasing, the share of SLBL drinks in the market is growing, and the brewery started with the project of local sourcing of sorghum. Box 1: Current Shareholders
Major Shareholders of SLBL 2012: Heineken International (85%) Diageo (Guinness International) (10%) Minority shares (5%): Paterson Zochonis (PZ) Local Sierra Leonean Public

The vision of the brewery is “To be an exemplary company contributing to the sustainable development of Sierra Leone by creating more value to all stakeholders.” Beer & malts SLBL sells around 110.000 Hectolitres of drinks annually. Three types of drinks are produced: Star (lager), Guinness (stout) and Maltina (a