Windhoek Lager now brewed in SA

THE first brewery outside Namibia licensed to brew Windhoek Lager, the Sedibeng Brewery south of Johannesburg was officially opened last week.

The brewery is 75 per cent owned by Heineken and 25 by Diageo and was built at a cost of N$3,5 billion. Sedibeng will supply a range of Heineken, Diageo and Namibia Breweries brands, including Heineken, Amstel and Windhoek Lager, as well as Smirnoff Storm and Smirnoff Spin, to the South African market. ‘This is a historic moment not only for NBL but also for Namibia. Usually we are the ones asking for a licence to brew other countries’ beers but this time around we were asked to give a licence and allow our beer to be brewed outside our borders,’ said Sven Thieme, chairman of Namibia Breweries. He added that the demand for Windhoek Lager was growing not only in South Africa but also in Cameroon, other neighbouring African countries and overseas. The Sedibeng brewery will deliver 45 per cent of the total demand for Windhoek Lager in South Africa while NBL will still brew and deliver the rest.Together Namibia Breweries, Heineken and Diageo are shareholders in Brandhouse Beverages, the parties’ cost-sharing venture in South Africa and one of the country’s leading marketing, sales and distribution companies for premium alcohol beverages. The brewery is built on an 83-hectare site comprising of the brewery, production plant and a warehouse. With an initial capacity of 3 million hectolitres the brewery is already being expanded to further increase capacity by 1 million hectolitres by September this year. The first Amstel was brewed at Sedibeng in September 2009, followed by Windhoek Lager and Heineken. ‘Each of our beers is brewed under the watchful eye of Heineken, Amstel and Windhoek Lager brew masters, in accordance with the original recipes and the highest international brewing standards. All of the South African staff has received training locally as well as in Namibia and overseas,’ said Johan Doyer, Managing Director of Sedibeng. The brewery was built under the supervision of the Heineken, Amstel and NBL brew masters too.

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