Ghana unable to produce enough brewery specific Sorghum

Guinness Ghana, the leading total beverage business in Ghana, expects to procure 30,000 metric tonnes of Sorghum from Ghanaian farmers by September.

The company has already procured about 16,000 metric tonnes of sorghum and expects the volume to rise to 30,000 metric tonnes by the end of September this year.

The figure represents a significant investment in the Ghanaian economy through the company’s local raw material sourcing initiative, which it initiated 10 years ago.

Finance Director of Guinness Ghana, Mr. Justin Mollel, disclosed that a successful purchase of 30,000 metric tonnes at GH₵180 million will constitute 70% of the company’s needs for the production of its beverage products.

$145m invest into state-of-the-art brewhouse  

He noted that the company invested over GH₵145 million in a state-of-the-art brewhouse facility in 2021 with the capacity to process 45,000 metric tonnes of sorghum.

According to him, purchasing the 45,000 metric tonnes of sorghum will cost Guinness Ghana over GH₵200 million.

He explained that although the company started working with farmers since 2012, the highest volume ever produced was 20,000 metric tonnes a year.

Mr. Mollel said it was discovered that yields were low due to the poor quality of seeds.

Investment into research

In view of this, he said Guinness Ghana invested in research to produce higher-yielding seeds for farmers.

Free improved seeds for farmers

According to him, the newly developed seeds supplied to farmers, free of charge, are yielding higher volumes, for which reason they expect production to rise to 30,000 metric tonnes.

GH₵31m investment into fertilisers

In addition to seeds, he stated that the company invested GH₵18 million in the purchase of fertilisers due to a shortage in 2023.

Mr. Mollel added that this year, Guinness Ghana would invest GH₵13 million in fertilisers for sorghum farmers.

Free capacity building for farmers

He said the company also provides free capacity building for farmers.

GH₵23m profit

Mr. Mollel, said despite headwinds over the past year, the Company delivered very strong performance with over 383% profit after tax resulting in a GH₵23 million profit.

33 brands

Madam Felicite Nson, Managing Director of Guinness Ghana, said the Company, with 33 brands and 30 key distributors, sourced about 70% of its raw materials locally, emphasising that “our first priority is our people”.

She said the double-digit growth recorded on all strategic priorities was because of “portfolio expansion and commercial execution”.

370,000 farmers impacted

The number of farmers impacted currently stands at over 370,000 through the local raw material sourcing initiative.

ESG programme

Sylvia Owusu-Ankomah, Corporate Relations Director of Guinness Ghana, said “as a business, we are committed to helping to create a more inclusive and sustainable world through our 10-year ESG programme we call Society 2030: Spirit of Progress.

“It has three priorities at its core; to promote positive drinking, champion inclusion and diversity and pioneer grain-to-glass sustainability. Doing business the right way underpins everything we do,” she added

Owusu-Ankomah said since 2020, the Company had, in collaboration with Water Aid, sited Water, Sanitation and Hygiene projects and facilities at markets and clinics in sorghum growing communities in parts of the northern region.

She said Guinness Ghana would replenish over 80,000 metric tonnes of water by June this year.

She said under the Company’s sustainability campaign, it had established community plastic collection centres and that it was going to schools, institutions, and communities to create a circular economy around plastics to safeguard the environment.

Owusu-Ankomah said the company has engaged some 14,000 students on underage drinking since October last year.

“Our underage drinking campaign, SMASHED, will reach 20,000 young adults by December this year.”

The campaign has so far reached students in the Volta, Greater Accra, and Eastern regions.

Owusu-Ankomah said the campaign was employing drama and role play to drive home the message on drug abuse and consequences of alcohol use on the underage.

The Company is also championing diversity and inclusion with a STEM programme aimed at attracting young female graduates, whose capacities are skewed towards science, technology, engineering and mathematics related courses.