Kenya: Sobering reality for liquor sector as Covid shrinks market

By Peter Mburu

For the workers remaining at the East African Breweries Limited (EABL), the hundreds of alcohol crates that are almost consuming the entire parking bay as trucks offload others daily are testament to how badly the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the liquor industry.

Where trucks waiting to load alcohol used to park, now lay heaps of crates that have been brought back from distributors' depots -- creating a beautiful view for a non-interested party but evoking pain from casuals and drivers who are going for weeks without a job.

To every worker who has been making a living from the EABL, the crates paint the truest picture of the unpleasant impact of continued closure of bars and alcoholic joints in the country, now for the fourth month.

"Almost the entire parking area has been filled with the crates being brought back by lorries ferrying alcohol to different parts since distributors no longer have use for them. They are a sign that no alcohol is being sold," said Mr Ngure, a driver of one of the trucks.

Empty bottles

Having no market for alcohol any longer, most liquor distributors and dealers have resolved to return the crates and empty bottles to the company, coming back in big numbers so that some vehicles are lacking space to offload them.

But it is not only crates coming back from the market. The driver said trucks have also been returning expired alcohol, especially spirits, after depots and bars were unable to sell. "Some of these lorries parked outside the gate waiting to enter are returning crates while others are bringing returns of expired alcohol," Mr Ngure said.

The returns have been the main proof of how the market, especially for spirits, has shrunk. The brewer has been destroying the alcohol. The situation has been dire with the United Distillers Vintners (UDV) department, which produces spirits, suffering the most. The company has been mainly relying on alcohol sold in cans and supplying to supermarkets since the order to close all bars was effected.

"Ever since bars were closed, operations at UDV have been unpredictable. Sometimes it is closed and sometimes working. For example, I was supposed to transport some alcohol but it has not been operational since Saturday," Mr Ngure said.

The plant was recently shut down temporarily after about five staff reportedly tested positive for Covid-19. EABL declined to respond on grounds that it was on a closed period.

Financial pain

The impact has been so dire that the number of vehicles distributing alcohol from the company have reduced by huge numbers as the production of some is halted or minimised. For instance, more than 190 ten-wheeler trucks used to operate before Covid-19 struck, according to the driver. Now they have reduced to about 40.

"By this time of the month, I would have taken more than 20 trips of delivering alcohol to different places. I have only taken six this month," the driver said on Wednesday.

With the effects eating into profits, the company started placing measures to minimise costs. As a result, most of its employees are working on shifts. Those sent home in May resumed work this week. When the Nation visited, four workers were in a brief meeting outside the premises, after they resumed since May.

"We don't know what has been happening in the company since we left. We were recalled yesterday," one of them said.

They said even though the company hasn't yet fired workers outright, the long leaves of up to two months have inflicted financial suffering to their lives. As they resumed, another lot would be going home for some weeks. The future looks bleak. The small businesses, such as eateries that usually rely on staff working there for survival, have been suffering too.

A woman who runs an eatery told the Nation she has had to fire her workers. "I am now working only with my daughter since I can no longer afford to pay somebody. Besides, the number of customers has greatly reduced," she said.

This article was originally published by Daily Nation. [Photo: NMG/Salaton Njau]