KENYA – Keroche Breweries Limited, an alcoholic drink manufacturer in Kenya, has launched a new lager ‘KB Lager’ in the market as it seeks to grow its product portfolio.

Speaking during the launch of the lager in Naivasha, the company’s chief executive Tabitha Karanja said that the new beer is sugar-free, and is produced from locally sourced sorghum and barley.

“We promised to launch more products and finally we have come up with a unique beet that is using 70 per cent locally grown cereal and 30 per cent malted barley,” she noted.

She described KB lager as specially crafted using the State of art technology and traditional process that guarantees customers full satisfaction. The introductory prices for KB lager in the local market is Sh120 (US$1.2) per bottle.

The KB Lager is the third beer brand under the company product portfolio that also counts of the Summit Lager and Summit Malt in addition to its array of spirits.

According to the Tabitha, the company’s move to use the locally sourced raw material would be a boost to farmers as the firm gears up to increase support to local farmers in production of the cereals.

“We will support all Kenyans cereal farmers to continue growing cereals that meet international standards and suitable for beer brewing,” she said.

In addition, she said that the introduction of the beer would see 400 jobs directly created and thousands of others indirectly through distribution network, reports The Standard.

The CEO called on the government to support local farmers to achieve the innovation necessary to the economy through agribusiness.

Currently, Keroche Breweries has the capacity to produce 600,000 beer bottles per day and an annual production capacity of 110 million litres of beer.

The company produces a range of spirits under the brands Crescent Triple Distilled vodka, Crescent Dry gin, Crescent Brandy and Crescent Whisky.

Keroche has made significant investment in its production facility as part of the company’s ambition to consolidate its stake in the country’s alcoholic beverage market targeting to command 20 percent market share.

The company has also unveiled plans of listing at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, joining its major rival – the East African Breweries Limited.