OnTap Magazine

42 | Winter 2025 | ontapmag.co.za We followed up with Charlene to find out what BASA’s priority areas are for the industry moving forward. • In terms of priorities: “excise must fall,” Charlene offered immediately. • “We have a responsibility to grow the industry,” she continued. Growth and sustainability are a huge part of what BASA is trying to build. “And that takes the right partnerships. We’ve signed several MOUs with financial institutions,” given that brewers are struggling to get funding. The idea is to increase smaller breweries’ access to funding so they can scale their business, and they can train their staff. • Another important partnership: tourism. “We need to revitalize the brewing industry as being a very key component within South Africa’s tourism.” That too can assist in taking away the negative connotation people associate with the beer industry. BASA wants “Beer Routes” to be more prominently displayed. • A further priority area is skills building and enterprise development. “So, for those who do want to move beyond homebrewing, how do we incubate them?” How can they be assisted in applying for funding, and/or acquiring a premises. • She very much wants to address the issue of “sin tax.” The minute we remove “sin” from this industry, we will see it viewed in a different light. It creates jobs, it creates livelihoods. • And lastly, export. “We brew some of the finest beer in the world and I don’t think the world knows that well enough.” The wine industry has an export arm of their association, and it enables them to see their wine in other parts of the world. This is something BASA is working towards. • In the main, their work is to ensure that this industry is sustainable and it grows from where it is today. CHARLENE Signal Hill Products has expanded beyond our borders; Derek was asked what he sees on the horizon and who their target market is at this point. • SHP invested in a craft brewery in Nairobi in 2021, and it’s only just taken off now, four years later. The bureaucracy in Kenya is “next level.” • When they purchased Strongbow, they gained the rights to sell it in several other countries (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, eSwatini, Zimbabwe and Zambia). What that enabled them to do is drag all their other brands along with it. • As such, their overall volumes sold have increased as they have been able to export their brands to those countries. What they have seen is that there’s definitely a demand for these products; you just need to have scale capacity. • In terms of target market: high-end markets through tourismare a priority. “All the markets we operate in in East and Southern Africa are dominated by ABINBEV, Heineken and Diageo, i.e. the Dutch, Brazilian and Irish. “We feel that Africa-owned brands have a real chance to compete if marketed correctly – but obviously easier said than done! DEREK As someone with their finger on the craft beer pulse – seemingly at all the festivals and conferences and competitions – Megan was asked what trends she is observing now, and whether or not she has seen a change in consumers’ tastes and what they are willing to try. • Over the years, Megan has been either a server or a drinker at the various beer festivals and so forth, and she has seen how the beers have changed, with brewers increasingly pushing the limits. “It’s getting weirder and weirder.” • When she is serving her own beers, she always takes one line of something really weird, whether it’s a peanut butter porter or a ginger biscuit brown ale – “something quirky!” She was a purist when she started brewing, conforming to the Reinheitsgebot, but now she loves to experiment. • Not everyone loves every “weird” beer, but they are keen to try. And they also then remember Megan, and her brand. • Also brewing with ingredients that are familiar to consumers outside of beer means it provides something they can identify with. She brews a lot of fruited kettle sours and she has found that that’s a great steppingstone for people who don’t like to drink beer. She’s generally finding that a lot of non- drinkers are moving towards sour beers. MEGAN Moderator Joya Taft-Dick