To improve its foreign exchange earnings, Nigerian Breweries Plc has stated that it plans to improve export contributions to its business beyond the one per cent profile, adding that the strategy had always been to satisfy the domestic market.
Also, the firm noted that its renewable agenda, which saw reduction in its carbon footprints by over 11 per cent, while preparing other plants for a cocktail of renewable energy mix suitable for their locations, will help to hedge inflation from rising diesel prices.
The brewer acknowledged that volatility of the naira, inability to access foreign exchange and high cost of doing business have continued to pose myriads of challenges to the real sector of the economy.
According to the Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Hans Essaadi, over the last 12 to 18 months, the company has retooled its processes to weather the storm coming out of Covid-19 pandemic, maintaining that it is becoming more difficult to doing business in the country.
Essaadi, at a media briefing preparatory to the firm’s yearly general meeting, added that despite the harsh operating environment, the company recorded improved growth in sales volume in the 2021 financial year despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation on businesses.
He noted that although production costs increased significantly in the 2021 financial year, the company continued to mitigate the impact without imposing any additional cost on consumers.
He added that despite the challenges, the company recorded a significant business performance driven mainly by robust sales volume growth.
According to him, the significant increase in sales volume for the 2021 financial year despite the impact of inflation could be attributed to their innovative workforce and the recently launched EverGreen Strategy.
He explained that with innovation being its primary driver for growth, the company would continue to leverage innovative ideas to deliver superior and balanced growth by focusing on their customers and consumers.
The firm’s supply chain director, Martin Kochi, said the solar panels will be introduced in phases to plants in the south, while in the north; it will adopt hydro power, especially for the Kaduna Brewery.
On reduction of emissions from its distribution trucks by replacing combustion engines in line with protocols ahead of 2050, Kochi said: “It is not easy to replace the trucks yet, but we are exploring alternative possibilities by first, converting the trucks to CNG (compressed natural gas), which is a much cleaner fuel.”
