HISTORY OF BEVERAGES IN NIGERIA

HISTORY OF BEVERAGES IN NIGERIA

grains

 

Throughout history, wherever cereal grains were grown, humans made a beer like beverage from them: they used wheat in Mesopotamia, barley in Egypt, millet and sorghum in Africa, rice in Asia, and corn in the Americas.

Today, beer making is a major industry worldwide. In 2002 in the United States, 1,800 brewers produced almost 175 million barrels of beer, and on average, each American consumed nearly 83 litres of beer.

Beer is an alcoholic beverage made from cereal grains, like barley, corn, rice, wheat, and oats. It is made using a process called fermentation, in which microscopic fungi called yeast consume sugars in the grain, converting them to alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. This chemical process typically produces beer with an alcohol content of 2 to 6 percent. Over 70 styles of beer are available today. Each style derives in its unique characteristics from its ingredients and subtle differences in its brewing process.

Beverages, from the beginning of time are drinks taken for pleasure; this could be seen in the biblical example of Noah, who drank to the point of stupor. However, this may sound, beverages in meaning has been modified from an intoxicating drink to any drink other than water. Widely distributed into alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, beverages are also in powder form.

In Nigeria, beverages came into existence through the Nigerian Breweries Plc, this pioneer and largest brewing company in Nigeria was incorporated in 1946. Its first brewery in Lagos has undergone several optimization processes and as at today boasts of the most modern brew house in the country.

Nigerian Breweries Plc has a rich portfolio of high quality brands: Star Lager Beer, the first in its portfolio, was launched in 1949; this was followed by Guilder lager beer in 1970; Maltina, the nourishing malt drink, was introduced in 1976 as Maltona, followed by Legend Extra Stout in 1992. Amstel Malta was launched in 1994. Heineken lager Beer was relaunched into the Nigerian market in 1998. Maltina Sip-it, packaged in Tetrapaks was launched in 2005, while Fayrouz was launched in 2006. In 2007, the company introduced Star, Heineken and Amstel Malta in Cans. Goldberg lager, Malta Gold and Life Continental lager became part of the family in October 2011.

Another major beverage producer in the country is Guinness Nigeria, a successful company with a rich heritage and great track record of growth and strong performance. Guinness Stout was first exported to Sierra Leone in 1827 and soon became popular across West Africa. In 1963, Ikeja in Lagos, Nigeria was chosen as the first location outside the British Isles to brew the iconic dark beer. Two years later, in 1965, Guinness Nigeria was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Steady growth in markets for Guinness Stout and Harp Lager during the next 30 years prompted the building of three more major breweries in Nigeria. In 1974, the company built a second brewery in Benin, where it produced Harp lager beer. This facility was later expanded to accommodate a second stout brewery, commissioned in 1978. In 1982, a fourth Guinness brewery was built in Ogba, Lagos to brew Harp Premium Lager beer. This site too, was expanded to include Guinness Stout. Several years later, in 2004, Guinness Nigeria commissioned a new brewery at Aba, Abia State.

In 2011, the Benin and Ogba breweries were expanded to further increase capacity and meet the growing demand for Guinness Nigeria products which include the acclaimed brands: Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, Guinness Extra Smooth, Malta Guinness, and Harp Lager beer. Other brands include Gordon’s Spark, Smirnoff Ice, Armstrong Dark Ale, Top Malt, Harp Lime, Dubic Extra Lager and most recently, Malta Guinness Low Sugar.

Meanwhile, major producers of non-alcoholic beverages in Nigeria include 7-up, Coca-Cola, chi-vita, la casera, viju milk to mention a few.

The Seven-Up bottling company Plc is one of the largest independent manufacturer and distributor of the well-known and widely consumed brands of soft drinks in Nigeria. Its brands are Pepsi, 7UP, Mirinda, Teem and Mountain Dew.

A Lebanese, Mohammed El-khalil who came to Nigeria for the very first time in 1926, founded the company. The company metamorphosed from a very successful transport business [El-Khalil Transport] in a bid to diversify the then largest transport company in the entire West of Africa. On October 1st 1960, the exact day Nigeria won her independence; Nigerians also experienced the birth of a soft drink giant as the first bottle of 7Up rolled out from its factory located in Ijora. Since then, the company continued to grow in the leap and the bound. In the late 80s, two more plants were established in Ibadan and Ikeja. In the early 1990s when Pepsi International took over 7Up international, the company got great opportunities to introduce the Pepsi brand to the Nigeria people. Today, the company has its Headquarters in Beirut and operational base in three African countries; Nigeria, Tanzania and Ghana.

Milo beverage

The last category of beverages is the powder form beverages; this could also be classified under non-alcoholic beverages when diluted with water. Predominant in this category is Milo; made of chocolate and malt powder mixed with hot or cold water and/or milk to produce a popular beverage in many parts of the world. Produced by Nestle, MILO was developed in the 1930s during the depression as a direct response to the fact that children were not receiving enough nutrients from their daily diet.

Originally developed by Thomas Mayne; a Nestle Engineer. He created the nutritious and delicious beverage using local milk knowledge and Swiss cocoa expertise. He named the drink MILO after the Greek mythical character Milo, who was known for his strength. MILO was launched in 1934 at the Sydney Royal Easter show in an area used to showcase new products to the public.

Commonly sold as a powder in a green tin, often depicting various sporting activities, Milo is available as a premixed beverage in some countries, and has been subsequently developed into a snack bar and breakfast cereal. Its composition and taste differ in some countries.

One major competitor with MILO is Bournvita, manufactured by Cadbury Nigeria. The company was incorporated in 1965 and is the market leader in sugar confectionery, gum and food beverages in Nigeria with strong market shares across all three categories. Cadbury's initial objective in the 1950s to source cocoa and prospect for a market in Nigeria led to the establishment of a manufacturing facility in Ikeja, north of Lagos, in 1965.

The Confectionery and Food Drinks segment is involved in the production and sale of Bournvita, Bubba, Stimorol, Tom Tom, Trebor, Buttermint, and Eclairs products. The Intermediate Cocoa Products segment offers cocoa powder, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, and cocoa cake. It distributes its products through a network of 43 distributors.

It has been observed that most beverages however have a class of individuals its appeals to. Alcoholic beverages have the tendency to appeal to those without strong religious beliefs, while soft drinks might just appeal to the very religious, children and nursing mothers. Further investigation revealed that individuals between the ages of 50 and above stay away as much as possible from beverages due to its usually high sugar content. While some would prefer certain brand to another, others believe since they all contain the same nutritional value, any brand within reach will just do.

Deviating from sweetened beverages brings one into the world of Tea. The tea plant is a native of Southeast Asia. Brewed from the dried leaves and has been drunk in China since 10th century bc. It was first brought to Europe by the Dutch in the early 17th century ad. After the introduction of tea there in 1657, England became the only European country of tea drinkers rather than coffee drinkers. Tea was introduced into North America by early settlers but was heavily taxed by the British, eventually resulting in the well-known Boston Tea Party of 1773, and it has never competed successfully with coffee as the staple beverage. Tea is drunk by about half of the world's population; China, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Japan are the main producers.

Leaf buds and young leaves are used in making tea; the age of the leaves determines the taste and name of the particular commercial variety. After picking, the leaves either are dried immediately and completely to produce green teas—such as pan-fired, basket-fired, hyson, and gunpowder—or are partially dried and then allowed to ferment to produce various kinds of black teas, such as orange pekoe, pekoe, congou, and souchong. Oolong tea is partially fired and then steamed, thus being intermediate between green and black teas. After being sorted, all grades of tea are packed in foil-lined chests to prevent the absorption of unpleasant odours or the loss of aroma during shipment. In China, tea is sometimes allowed to absorb the scent from various flowers; jasmine is a particular favourite.

woman holding a cup of Lipton

Tea is an aromatic stimulant, containing various polyphenols, essential oils, and caffeine. The concentration of caffeine in tea ranges from 2.5 to 4.5 percent, as contrasted to an average concentration of about 1.5 percent in coffee.

Lipton is one of the world's great refreshment brands, making a big splash in the global beverages market with tea that is a healthy and refreshing alternative to soft drinks. Thomas Johnstone Lipton was a pioneering entrepreneur born in 1850, who, by 1880s, had opened grocery shops all over the UK. He had a vision of making tea accessible to all at acceptable prices, with guaranteed quality. In the 1890s, his Lipton teas enjoyed great success in the UK and the US.

Lipton first came to Nigeria in 1959 under the Van Den Bergh Foods Company. In 1972 however, Unilever acquired the world wide Lipton Tea Business. Lipton became Unilever Nigeria’s brand in 1985. The tea blend is imported from Kenya and packed into teabags in the factory at Agbara in Ogun State in the Western part of Nigeria.

In Nigeria, tea is drank mainly at the houses of educated individuals or diabetic patients, the crave for sweetened or intoxicating drink has a higher appeal among its citizens.

The regulatory body of all beverages in Nigeria is NAFDAC, in 2004 the agency came up with 22 soft drinks regulation and in 2005, 23 spirits and wine drinks regulation all in the bid to set a standard for the ever-growing beverage industry. With this regulation put in place, Nigerians are assured of safer and healthier beverages.