cash by customers at the factory
gates, the corridors of the brewery
office are lined with enormous stacks
of banknotes. A stack of banknotes
about ten metres long, one metre
high and half a metre deep stands in
one of the office corridors. Ten
employees do nothing but count
money.
Honey counting: a daily and very time-
consuming ritual.
Lieven van de Borght, Commer
cial Manager Bralima, explains how
much work is involved in counting
the money: "Because they are such
big stacks of paper notes, you need a
lot of time to count them. We have
calculated that, before the money
leaves the brewery, it will have been
counted about ten times. Once that
job has been completed, the money
is taken to the bank where it is
immediately converted into foreign
currency as much as possible, since
we then need foreign currency, for
instance to import raw materials."
BREWERIES
Those raw materials are destined for
the five breweries operated by Bra
lima. The size of the country and the
poor infrastructure are the reasons
for this big number of breweries. The
biggest of the five is located in
Kinshasa. One million hectolitres of
beer and 600,000 hectolitres of soft
drinks are produced here each year.
In Bukavu there is a brewery with a
capacity of 400,000 hectolitres, whilst
the breweries in Boma and Kisangagi
also have that same output. In Mban
daka there is a brewery with a capa
city of around 200,000 hectolitres.
According to Production Manager
Mark Tettelaar, the Kinshasa brewery
is the most interesting one for pro
duction people to work in. "We pro
duce a big range of beers here, plus
all the soft drinks. So the logistics of
it all are very fascinating. In
Kinshasa, unlike the breweries at
Bukavu, Boma and Mbandaka, we
also face substantial competition."
The logistics system in the
Kinshasa brewery is currently being
altered so as to improve the routing
of the intense truck traffic. Apart
from the dozens of trucks owned by
the brewery itself, long rows of lor
ries and pick-up trucks of small dis
tributors stand waiting each day to
load their order. In the peak season
some 150 trucks stand in line to col
lect their load and it takes until 10
p.m. before the last ones have left
the brewery site.
The long queues of trucks are a
nuisance to the people who live close
to the brewery. Thanks to a different
routing system, the construction of
on-site parking facilities and the
removal/expansion of several ware
houses, the lengthy queues outside
the brewery site will become a thing
of the past from next year on.
Not only the warehouse is being
expanded; a new bottling line and
other equipment will also have to be
installed to keep up with the
demand. Demand is growing thanks
to an increasing market share,
though the beer market itself is in
decline because of the poor state of
the economy.
One of the many
small bars in which
Primus is served.
TURNAROUND
Bralima has shown in recent years
that it is possible for a downward
spiral to be given a positive turna
round. Years ago Bralima was the
absolute market leader (with more
than 50% market share) and domina
ted the Zaïrese beer market.
Gradually, the main competitor took
over that position and Bralima was
downgraded to become a small play
er in the market. Thanks to improved
attention for the quality of the beer,
investments in advertising and pro
motions and the improvement of the
Primus bottle (labels instead of pyro-
gravure), Bralima has recaptured the
lead and its market share is increas
ing to well above what it was many
years ago.
Marketing Manager Peter Vogel
sang of the Africa Cluster says:
"Bralima has again succeeded in
reaching the consumers, in capturing
their emotions. For example, their
choice of colour for the label hit the
mark exactly. Initially, we were hesi
tant about that vivid blue colour,
because we felt it was not beery
enough. Later on, Bralima was prov
ed right."
The advertising campaign was
also developed with the cultural her
itage of Zaire in mind. Instead of
using young, slender models,
Bralima decided to portray working
mothers in the campaign. The image
was one that the Zaïrese consumer
could readily identify with and
Primus has reaped the benefit.
