EABL shines in Africa Food Awards ceremony, clinching over 5 awards in different categories in beverage scetor

KENYA – Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) has been crowned the company of the year in Africa, receiving the award alongside its parent company, East African Breweries Limited, which clinched five awards at the Africa Food Awards ceremony held at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi.

EABL dominated in the Community Impact Initiatives category with its Water for Life Initiative that is inspired by Sustainable Development Goal #6, which advocates for access to clean water and sanitation.

The company has a five-year plan to inject over 500 million liters of water into households facing water shortages and replenish water in the communities they operate in.

EABL Foundation has already invested over Ksh20 million towards the development of water and sanitation projects in the Lake Basin areas of Lukume, Olembo, Magunga, Okiki Amayo, and Ndhiwa.

Under the Pioneer Grain To Glass Sustainability where the Preserve Water for Life lies, EABL aims to reduce water use in our operations by increasing usage efficiency by 40% in water-stressed areas and 30% across the company.

The brewer plans to improve water availability and quality in 100% of our local communities in water-stressed areas, replenish more water than we use for our operations in 100% of sites in water-stressed areas by 2026 and invest in improving access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in communities near our sites and local sourcing areas in 100% of our water-stressed markets.

EABL’s Biomass boilers project was also recognized in the Sustainability Initiative of the Year award in the same ceremony.

Diageo’s subsidiary has invested more than Sh5 billion in a biomass plant as part of its transition to renewable energy.

EABL Managing Director Jane Karuku said the biomass plant would help the brewer achieve a net-zero status and reduce its carbon emissions by 48,000 tonnes annually.

“Among other sustainability efforts, we have recently invested in a new Sh5 billion biomass plant, one of the biggest in the region and its completion soon will help us achieve net-zero status reducing our carbon emissions by 48,000 tonnes annually,” she pointed out.

“In addition, water stewardship is a long-standing strategic priority and our goal in Kenya is to replenish 1.6 million cubic meters by 2026 across all our three sites in Kenya.”

In the past two years, Ms. Karuku added that EABL has facilitated more than a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the last two years in its switch to low-carbon operations.

That was not all. In the New Product of the Year category, EABL took the lion’s share of the awards, taking home three having innovated the most liked alcoholic drinks.

In the category, Gordon’s & Tonic and Gordon’s Pink & Tonic, Captain Morgan Gold & Cola; and Rockshore Tropical beer raised the company’s ranks in Africa.

Since its first edition in 2017, the Africa Food Awards celebrates people, new product innovations, sustainability initiatives, and leading companies in Africa’s food industry. The award has become sub-Sahara Africa’s most respected food industry award.

Over 50 African companies received different awards in various categories at the recognition ceremony.

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