Southern Sudan Beverages Limited was a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

based in South Sudan and previously owned by ABInBev. The company closed operations in 2016.

History

SABMiller SABMiller plc was an Anglo–South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by AB InBev for US$107-billion. It was the world's sec ...

has an investment in the company while it was within the jurisdiction of

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. It built a ~£32 million factory in

Juba Juba is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria, Central Equatoria State. It is the most recently declared national capital and had a populatio ...

, making it the first manufacturing facility in the country and came despite competition from imported beers from Kenya and Uganda. The initial plans to start a brewery had begun in 2006 before the launch in 2009. The company's initial challenges included logistics as material to build the first factory needed to be driven into the country from

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, Kenya including two second hand brewery machines from Malta and Bulgaria and a power plant needed to be built, while the only ingredient of

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

available was local water from the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

and the over 250 workers who had mostly never been employed before needed to be trained from scratch. The malted barley, hops and yeast are imported but there were plans to work with local farmers to start brewing with cassava. The factory has a capacity to produce 180,000hl of clear beer and 60,000hl of carbonated soft drinks annually. The

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

White Bull's colours are yellow, green and white and are served in heavy brown bottles. It is also illegally available in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

, Sudan. Production started in May 2009. Ian Alsworth-Elvey is the inaugural

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the company. A new managing director, Carlos Gomes was appointed to take over the business in March 2015. This was, however, not the first attempt to build a brewery in the country after Belgium's SYBETRA built the White Nile Brewery in Wau in 1983, but the Sudanese government did not license the project due to

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

law. On 14 January 2016, the company had announced it would be closing its brewing operations in South Sudan by mid-February due to the foreign-currency shortage restricting its ability to import raw materials.

Brands

The beer brands that were manufactured are ''White Bull'', Nile Special (brewed primarily in

Jinja, Uganda Jinja is a city in the Eastern Region, Uganda, Eastern Region of Uganda, located on the north shore of Lake Victoria. Location Jinja is in Jinja District, Busoga sub-region, in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is approximately east of Kampala, ...

but also at the South Sudan brewery) and Club Pilsner

pale lager Pale lager is a pale-to- golden lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. In the mid-19th century, Gabriel Sedlmayr took British pale ale brewing and malt making techniques back to the Spaten Bre ...

beer. The company also produces soft drinks such as Club Cola, Club Berry, Club Lemmon, Club Pineapple, Club Orange, and Club Apple . In addition to soft dinks and beer, the company also produces spirits such as Konyagi Gin, Vladimir Vodka, Regency Whisky and Valeur Brandy.

White Bull Lager

''Southern Sudan Beverages Ltd.'' announced on 6 May 2009; that the company had produced its first locally produced beer in

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

, called ''White Bull Lager'' with an alcohol content level of 4.2%. The beer has been brewing in the

brewing facility, which SSBL invested US$37 million in 2009 that has an initial annual capacity of 180000hl. The White Bull name comes from the distinctive cattle in the country which, according to the company, "is an important culturally treasured symbol status that the team at SSBL respects and admires." Since the brands inception, ''WB'' is considered to be the national beer of South Sudan. The brewery planned to produce 35 million litres a year. Bulk purchases are sold at Sudanese pounds per crate except for volume buyers – with purchases of 225 crates or more – who will pay about UK£12, while the minimum order is 45 crates. By 11 May 2010 it was announced White Bull had captured two-thirds of the mainstream beer market, selling 2.5m bottles a month, at 70p each.

References

External links

Official SABMiller site for White Bull
{{SABMiller Breweries of Africa SABMiller Companies based in Juba Food and drink companies established in 2009 2009 establishments in South Sudan Food and drink in South Sudan