Brarudi S.A., also known by its French name Brasseries et Limonaderies du Burundi, is the largest

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer ...

and soft beverage company in the

Republic of Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Grea ...

History

The history of Brarudi goes back to 1955 when the management of the breweries of the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

, then under the management of Brasseries de Leopoldville (now Bralima Brewery), decided to build a brewery in the Eastern region to server Ruanda-Urundi and Eastern Congo. The city of Usumbura (now Bujumbura), on the northern shores of Lake Tanganyika, was selected to house the new brewery whose name was Brasserie du Rwanda-Urundi. The brewery became operational December 23, 1955 and began producing Primus Beer. In November 1957, Bralima started the construction work for a second brewery to be located in

Gisenyi Gisenyi, historically rendered as Kisenyi, is a city in Rubavu district in Rwanda's Western Province. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma, the city across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Overview The city features a resort on t ...

on the northern shores of

Lake Kivu Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, whic ...

under the name Brasseries et Limonaderies du Rwanda. Upon independence, Bralima was incorporated in Congo Léopoldville, Brarudi in Burundi and Bralirwa in Rwanda. In 1966, Brarudi diversified into the production of soft drinks. This was through the brewer's partnership with

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrup ...

making it a bottler for Coca-Cola products. A soft beverages plant was opened in

Gitega Gitega (), formerly Kitega, is the political capital of Burundi. Located in the centre of the country, in the Burundian central plateau roughly east of Bujumbura (the largest city and former political capital), Gitega (the second largest city) ...

for this purpose. In 1975, the

Government of Burundi The Politics of Burundi takes place in a framework of a transitional presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Burundi is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is ...

acquired 40% control of Brarudi while Banque Bruxelles Lambert (BBL) retained its 60% shareholding. BBL exited Brarudi in 1982 through a selling its 60% stake to

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Feb ...

, a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

brewing conglomerate. This made Brarudi a subsidiary of Heineken. Today, Brarudi is a regionally and internationally recognized brewer and soft beverage manufacturer with an expanding portfolio of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Ownership

The shares of stock of the company are privately held. The ownership of the company stock is as depicted in the table below:

Brands

The brands manufactured by Brarudi include:

Beers

Soft drinks

References

External links

Bralirwa Homepage

Heineken Homepage
{{Economy of Burundi Drink companies of Burundi Food and drink companies established in 1955 1955 establishments in Ruanda-Urundi Heineken subsidiaries Breweries of Africa Coca-Cola bottlers