“We’re going to be a small craft brewery compared to the big guys, but we believe we can make the best beer and we can keep growing in our own way and do things in our own style.
“I will be very happy with 1% of the Nigeria’s $7 billion beer market. Even half of that will be great.”
That’s Bature Brewery’s co-founder Kevin Conroy.
The brewery’s popular offerings include Lagos Lager, Mango Disco, and Harmattan Haze — all brewed with local ingredients.
Its Black Gold stout, brewed with coffee sourced from Taraba State, won a taste category at the 2023 World Beer Awards.
Reuters report that the brewery, headquartered in Lagos with operations that began in Abuja in 2017, is aiming to increase its production from 22,000 litres to 100,000 litres monthly by next year, as part of a strategy to grow from 70 to 500 retail locations within 18 months.
“We know there is more demand. Our goal is to get to 500 locations selling our products by the next 18 months. We are aiming to be doing 100,000 litres per month by next year,” he said.
Nigeria’s $7 billion beer market is the largest in Africa, and the country is the second biggest market globally for Guinness stout, which has been brewed locally since 1962.
But Bature is betting that a rising class of consumers will opt for craft beers that offer something different, despite costing up to six times more than mass-market alternatives.
To support its growth, Bature has invested in draft dispensers in bars, restaurants and hotels, while upgrading its Lagos plant with new fermentation tanks, diesel power, and water treatment systems to mitigate unreliable public utilities.