By Michael Eboh

Euro Global Foods  and Distilleries Limited, a subsidiary of Sona Group, has announced its determination to set up a greenfield distillery that will help boost its productive ability and promote the sale of its products across the country.

The company, which is also a Greenfield project of the parent group, has launched three new variants of spirits in the market — Seaking Schnapps, Sbrina Gin and Braveheart Dark Rum.

According to a statement quoting the General Manager, Marketing of the company, Mr. Felix Aighobahi, the distillery will boost its bottom line in the near future, as it will ensure commercial sale to other manufacturers of spirits.

He said, “The development of superior blends in the Spirits category, ranging from Brandy, Vodka, Tonic Wine, and Table Wines, Bitters & Liqueurs is in progress, while plans are also afoot to set up a Greenfield Distillery for captive alcohol consumption as well as commercial sale to other manufacturers of spirits.”

He disclosed that plans it plans to further expand its products portfolio, into table water, carbonated soft drinks, fruit juices, energy drinks, and carbonated non-alcoholic wines.

He noted that in the first phase of its business roll out, the company is launching only three variants of spirits, while the next products which are still in the development stage are the Brandy and Vodka, to be launched early next year.

He further stated that as parts of its strategy, it has identified three geographical locations for the distribution of the brands, which include, primarily.  the West, East, South parts of the country that consume 90 per cent of the Spirits sold, adding that East and Lagos alone, contribute nearly 65 per cent of the volumes.

“In the area of sources of raw material, all the Spirits consist primarily of Ethyl Alcohol — diluted to 43 per cent volume, demineralised water and flavour. We use Ethyl Alcohol sourced from Brazil via an importer, while in the water, we produce our own in the factory and the flavors, we use from international reputed suppliers.

“The Spirits market of Nigeria is highly fragmented and very competitive. We plan to make inroads into the markets with superior packaging & product experience for the consumers. Future plans are to take the Brands internationally to West African nations to begin with.
“The Nigerian Spirits market is governed by standards laid out by the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), which is the nodal agency approving packaging & product. “Our products and packaging have a NAFDAC registration number assigned to it and displayed on the package. The products are also governed by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria – SON,” he said.

He disclosed that the product was priced taking into consideration the attitude of the Nigerian consuming public, positioning the products to give the consumers value for their money.

According to him, “The consumer is very price conscious and therefore, the products have been positioned on the value for money category. The pricing has taken cognisance of the competitive pricing prevalent in the market today. The market is dominated by small pack sizes in the 30 ml pouches and low priced products in PET bottles of market leaders as well as small regional and local players.”