[ 2015-12-22 ]

Kasapreko to commercialise ‘Asaana, Sobolo, and hausa beer’

West African countries such as Ghana, as part of a
larger Africa ecology, abound in plethora of
organic products that nourish the body and soul,
which remain untapped for several reasons, chiefly
the lack of technology and application of
science.

While the more health conscious parts of the world
go to great lengths in search of organic products
as a shift from artificial and lab-generated food
products, Africans have not been able to harness
such resources which abound in their localities by
virtue of the vast arable land availability.

However, all that is about to change, with
Kasapreko Company Limited (KCL), a hitherto
alcohol distillery, adding its might to the many
small businesses which are making small dents of
converting some of the country’s herbal
resources into healthy beverages for nourishment.


The Group Chairman of KCL, Dr Kwabena Adjei, told
journalists just before the inauguration of a new
beverage bottling line that the company would soon
start the commercial production of local
non-alcoholic drinks such as “asana, sobolo and
hausa beer.”

He said that would form part of the non-alcoholic
beverages that the company had started producing.

Hausa beer is a home-made non-alcoholic beer which
is common in Africa, while sobolo and asaana are
also local drinks which are produced from roselle
leaf and fermented maize, respectively.

The new plant, which was commissioned by President
John Dramani Mahama on December 15, has the
capacity to produce 70,000 bottles of alcoholic
and 40,000 non-alcoholic beverages per hour.

It comprises a large warehouse with a loading bay,
material storage areas and state-of–the-art
production and packaging lines.

Dr Adjei said the company invested US$70 million
into the project in order to scale up its
production capacity of both alcoholic and
non-alcoholic.

Drinks from Cassava

Dr Adjei also stated that the company was
currently looking at ways in which it could
produce drinks from cassava.

The company recently acquired 40 per cent shares
in Caltech Ventures Company Limited, an agro-based
institution with expertise in cassava production
and processing.

The group chairman said the company would also
eventually obtain 50 per cent of its ethanol
locally from the Caltech Cassava Company Limited.

According to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture,
Ghana produces about 16 million tonnes of cassava,
of which about 11 million tonnes is available for
non-industrial (human) consumption.

However, only four million tonnes of the crop
which is available for human consumption is
actually utilised, leaving more than seven million
tonnes as surplus.

The decision of KCL to produce drinks from cassava
will, therefore, help enhance the commercial use
and value of the crop.

Ghana currently imports 60 million litres of
ethanol annually, with KCL alone importing 25
million litres of ethanol from Brazil, Pakistan,
USA and France.

Competing on the global market

The Managing Director of the company, Mr Richard
Adjei, said the investment would enable the
company to compete favourably on the global
market.

He said KCL would continue to grow its business
not only in Ghana but internationally.

Kasapreko exports about 50 per cent of its
products to Nigeria, South Africa, Cote
d’Iviore, Benin, UK and USA. — GB

Source - Daily Graphic

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