Diageo, one of Ethiopia’s biggest breweries, is trying out a new beer named Mench at selected places on a trial run.
The makers of Meta, Guinness and the affordable Azmera draught brands – the latter launched two years ago – and through a local representatives, incuding Coskal, Winter Palace Liquor Distributers and Ethiopian Tourist Trading Enterprise (ETTE) facilitates and markets their famous products, including Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker and Baileys is starting the new brand as a direct competition to local beers, such as St. George, Habesha and Walia. The beer has a five percent alcohol and is flavoured with fruits and herbs.
Diageo is a noted company within Ethiopia acquiring the brand at a cost of USD 225 million and has further invested USD 119 million to its factory to help expand its reach and recoup its investment in an Ethiopian society that continues to have the appetite for beer with multinationals continuing to invest in the sector.
The company has launched new products and has innovated new technologies, such as starting QR code system to confirm which JW bottles shave been imported into Ethiopia through Diageo authorized distributors. It is said to have put much confidence in its new product and is expected to launch it nationally.
For the past several weeks, it has been quietly trying-out the product in various restaurants and pubs, including at Kaya and Ellanoce restaurants and is said to have been favorably received.
