Profile
JUNE 2 O O 1
On the wall in Wale Adesanya's office is a noticeboard displaying
the company mission: to be the leading beverage company in
Nigeria, marketing high quality brands, to deliver superior consumer
satisfaction. Below it is a list which translates that company mission
into a technical mission. "We have to produce to world class
performance. That means that we must deliver quality, at the lowest
possible costs, in the right quantities and on time. And we will do
all of that in an environmentally friendly way. Working according
to that policy almost automatically means that you transfer
responsibilities to much lower levels within the organisation.
That caused quite a culture shock within the brewery, but now it
works excellently. Each week the operators from the departments
get together to discuss solutions for problems such as water wastage,
extract losses, energy saving, etc. The head of the department gives
a weekly review of the results achieved and listens to suggestions
from the operators for improvements. It's good to see how
enthusiastic people are. The essence of the change in culture
within our brewery is the right to be allowed to make mistakes.
We no longer ask the question who was wrong, but what was wrong?"
Nigerian Breweries was established in 1946. Three years later the
first bottles of Star came off the bottling line of the brewery in
Lagos. In 1957 came the opening of the brewery in Aba, followed
in 1963 by the brewery in Kaduna and in 1982 the Ibadan brewery.
In September 1993 Nigerian Breweries bought its fifth brewery in
Enugu. Heineken has had a majority stake (54.2%) in Nigerian
Breweries since late 2000. Nigerian Breweries plays a prominent
role in Nigerian society and makes a strong contribution to the
country's economy. PR Adviser Larry Agose, who is a member of
the management team of Nigerian Breweries, explains: "We are
doing well and are not shy to tell it. People know we do everything
we say. That may sound arrogant, but every year we show nice
results." Sales in 1999 amounted to N 12,033 billion, an increase
of 31% compared to 1998. Pre-tax profit climbed by 63% to
N 5,268 billion.
Human Resource and Finance Divisions as well.
Currently, the company is being piloted through four cross functional
teams that report to the Executive Committee (ExCo). These are
the Demand and Supply Chain Team headed by the Technical
Director, John Foster; the Cost Optimisation Team, headed by the
Financial Director, Alan Parke; the New Product-Market Development
Team, headed by the Marketing Director, Bola Akingbade and the
Integrated Communication Development Team, headed on behalf
of the MD/Chief Executive Officer by the Senior Manager in charge
of Public Relations, Larry Agose. All executive directors and other
key managers belong to these teams.
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The brewery group has an overall market share of 56% and
produces Star and Gulder lagers and Legend Stout. It also produces
the malt beverages Maltina and Amstel Malta. Heineken Beer is
imported by Nigerian Breweries. The brewery group has been
exporting since 1986. Sales markets are the United Kingdom,
the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Kenya.
Nigerian Breweries was the first Nigerian company to set up an
integrated Logistics Division which is doing well and has strong
