OnTap Magazine

ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2025 | 43 Jessi was asked to elaborate further on the role of women and Africans, broadly, in the global brewing industry; how can these demographics contribute towards growth in the long-term? And what is exciting right now? • “Looking for funding, we really wanted to be women and POC owned, but the people who had the capital to offer us were usually white men.” And they had people coming in, announcing that they were going to put stipulations on their funding. “Even if we are nominally women- led, we’re not really if our investors are giving us all these stipulations.” • When one walks up to a table of investors, they are the ones in the end who make the decisions. So, that’s the table that also needs to be diversified, Jessi argues. We need the “global palette” to be providing opportunities. • “We are majority women and POC owned still today, but it’s a struggle, and we are still looking for investment.” Luckily, those who have invested in Kweza do align with their vision. • “The Rwandan government is interested in developing biodiversity beers, so besides sorghum, what other native products can we be using to create completely unique flavours and profiles?” • They are also getting into non- alcoholic beers: “Half of Rwanda doesn’t drink! So, how do we create a craft experience for everyone?” When you hand someone a Fanta at a table, who may be out with their friends, they feel like a child. How can you ensure that all people can still “enjoy the liquid version of the culinary world? That’s exciting to me.” • She’s also seeing an increasing interest in craft beverages overall. JESSI "Why are we trying to mimic Europe and North America when there is a huge amount of biodiversity and different palettes on this continent? How do we explore those more and enter them into the larger commercial world?" JESSI: “I love the place we are in with craft beer at the moment. People are excited to try something new, and for craft brewers it’s quite fun for us. I think it’s exciting that consumers are seeking out ‘weird and wonderful stuff.’ ” She also argues that craft is underpricing and underselling itself. “We are trying to compete with the macro lagers in terms of price; but people are willing to pay a higher price for good craft beer.” MEGAN: He didn't totally agree with Megan's pricing point: “The base price of a lager sets the price…” Consumers still reference the price of a six-pack of lager as the standard. “My wish is for the base price to lift 10-15% and then craft can lift 15-20%, and then the whole value chain works.” But we can’t raise it that much if they stay where they are. He adds that when looking at LADS as a category, non-beer is growing much faster than traditional beer. He continues: “Macro beer is boring; it’s going backwards globally… Position yourself in that world of flavour and difference; I think that’s what consumers want.” Pricing that should be 20% higher. And as for this continent’s contribution, it must be “ ’proudly African for the world,’ and not the other way around. I do think the youth consumers in Africa are [getting over wearing Boston Red Sox hats], but we’ve got to build things to be proud of.” He believes that if we deliver those products, “the people will back us over foreign stuff. And I do think that’s changed fundamentally in the last 10 years.” DEREK: “Beer exists in an ecosystem,” and a big part of that system is the agricultural sector. How can we limit the importing of foreign grains, and find ways to get the agricultural sector to play around with nurturing different grain options? This requires a close tie between the agricultural and beer sectors. Ultimately: we need to localize the supply chain of raw materials. CHARLENE: In Rwanda, there are no existing patterns/ assumptions. Everyone wanted them, Kweza, to make a lager. The Marriott made it a requirement that they provide a lager to them, and they told them that it wouldn’t sell – and it didn’t sell. So Kweza no longer makes a lager. They now make an “introductory golden ale” and they thought that that would be what sells. They also made an IPA. Those are the two beers they sell in cans, and are in the broader market (including supermarkets). When they first started, the Golden Ale sold slightly better than the IPA, but within weeks of canning, the IPA overtook it – and it’s more expensive! They were told that there is no way Rwandans would buy a bitter beer, but the numbers tell a different story. In their taproom, the ginger beer and the IPA are wildly selling, in a market that doesn’t know what the norm “should be.” JESSI: What do the countries on this continent have to offer the beer conversation? What’s unique about the industry here? What should we be capitalizing on? TO ALL THE PANELISTS: L to R: Megan and Jessi (Marla Burger Photography)