E-Malt.com News article: Bangladesh: Bangladesh brewer launches first local beer to compete with expensive imported brands

A local company has launched the first Bangladeshi-brewed beer earlier this month to compete with high-priced imported peers, Xinhua reported on October, 13.

Crown Beverage Ltd, a concern of Bangladesh's leading Jamuna Group, started brewing beer after receiving a license from the country's Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) this year.

Quoting officials of the department, it said the company would be able to sell its beer to off-shops, bars, clubs and hotels that have a permission to sell this as the Muslim majority South Asian country does not allow free sale and consumption of alcohol.

"We'll only be able to sell beer to those who have the license to sell liquor to permitted drinkers," Md Nurul Islam, chairman of Jamuna Group, was quoted as saying in the report.

At authorized liquor stores, a 330ml beer of the company with 5percent alcohol sells at up to 100 taka to licensed drinkers while the price of imported beers, such as Heineken, stands at about 250 taka in the country.

Crown Beverage is advancing slowly despite having a plant near Dhaka with a capacity of brewing 30 tons of beer a day with the major raw materials - malt and hops - being imported from abroad.

"We're brewing about 2 tons of beer a day as the market is not fully aware of our product," said the chairman, expecting the company to record good sales after at least six months.

"We have plans to export," he said. "For that we'll have to set up a bottling plant."


14 October, 2009