Nigerian duo hope to turn local spirit into premium brand

By Angela Ukomadu and Alexis Akwagyiram
LAGOS, April 9 (Reuters) - Chibueze Akukwe sticks a label on
a bottle of an upmarket Nigerian spirit in a factory in Lagos.
He hopes stylish branding will help sell the tipple, fermented
in nearby villages using techniques dating back centuries, to
upmarket customers.
A spirit called Ogogoro, referred to locally as "gin", is
extracted from palm trees before undergoing fermentation. The
resulting drink is cheap, but varies in potency and quality.
Akukwe and his business partner Lola Pedro are aiming higher
with Pedro's palm spirit, combining traditional techniques with
modern distillation processes to attract wealthy drinkers at
home and abroad. Pedro's is already sold in Ghana, Kenya and
Britain.
"I didn't see much of a difference between some of the big
name brand spirits that we know all across the globe, when you
compare those with Ogogoro," said Akukwe, speaking at the
company's distillery in Lagos, which produces half-litre bottles
sold for $50 in a country where most live on less than $2 a day.
The brand is hoping to tap into a growing appetite for
spirits in Africa's most populous country after coronavirus
restrictions forced people to host friends at home. Pedro's
declined to give details of its sales.
Market research firm Euromonitor said Nigeria's premium
spirits market was growing from a low base, "creating interest
among the younger, wealthier population whose budgets have been
less affected by the COVID-19 epidemic".
Spirits are more usually drunk more at home than other
alcoholic drinks and are seen as a growth area in Nigeria
because of their high price and low production costs, said
Stanbic IBTC Africa analyst Fola Abimbola.
"The spirits market is fragmented," said Abimbola. "Smaller
players can compete."
In the impoverished Lagos neighbourhood of Cele-Egbe, a
group of men sit under a tree just before dusk and sample a
copper-coloured Ogogoro from metal cups.
Pedro's is distilled nearby but sold in the shops, bars and
restaurants of more affluent districts. Its customers are not
men sitting under a tree.
For Akukwe, the drink is more than just alcohol.
"Our spirits deserve to be showcased," he said. "Our culture
and our heritage deserve to be showcased."