Guinness’ Uncompromising Quest for Quality
Raheem Akingbolu who recently took part in a factory tour of Guinness Nigeria’s Ikeja brewery, writes on the manifestation of its investment in excess of N52 billion that has boosted the quality of the company’s products
The Guinness Nigeria Brewery situated in Ogba in the Ikeja district of Lagos is in one sentence, “a demonstration of faith and confidence in Nigeria.” These were the words of Peter Ndegwa, the new managing director of the company last week while flagging off a tour of the Ogba production facility by journalists.
According to Ndegwa, Guinness has had a presence in Nigeria that predates its 1960 independence and has always considered itself a worthy development partner of Nigeria.
This partnership with Nigeria, he said, is diverse, impacting social and economic life in our country in sundry ways. For instance, he said, “the sales and distribution function is like a micro-economy of sorts and you would be pleasantly surprised at the sheer number of jobs, it helps to provide both directly and indirectly in the economy.” And sales and distribution, is but just a single functional area, he said.
Speaking to the issue of quality, Ndegwa stated that Guinness is itself an epitome of quality. It is quality, that is at the heart of the premium value which customers derive from Guinness and this itself has been the driving force in the history of the company that dates back to 1759. “Obviously, quality and innovation are our staying power.”
Faith in Nigeria, he said, has been demonstrated by the company’s willingness to continue to invest in Nigeria. “As you know, we’ve been here continuously since setting up shop and not for once, not even during the civil war did we exit Nigeria.”
The company currently has three brewing plants across the country said Ndegwa. The plants are located at Ogba where journalists embarked on a tour as well as Benin-City and Aba, respectively. In the last few years, he said, Guinness has invested in excess of N52 billion towards enhancing automation and generally modernizing its production facilities in Nigeria, said Ndegwa. All of this, he said, is with the fundamental objective of ensuring that the company delivers top quality and premium value to its consumers.
Brewing Process The brewing process, as we would find out during our tour of the very highly automated plant, is rather simple in concept. First, malted barley is soaked in hot water to release the malt sugars. After this stage, the malt sugar solution is boiled with Hops for seasoning. The solution is then cooled and yeast is added to begin the process known as fermentation wherein sugar is converted to alcohol. The yeast upon addition to the solution converts the sugars to carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol which is more commonly known as alcohol. Once fermentation is complete, the beer is bottled with a little bit of added sugar to provide the carbonation.
While an overview of the entire process may appear simple, it is in the attention to detail and the innovativeness with which different flavours and additives are researched, developed and ultimately infused in the different product brands, that the company distinguishes itself above everyone else.
The tour guide explained, for instance, that yeast being a living organism needs to be kept in the healthiest state for it to be optimally productive. But yeast is not visible to the eye except with the aid of a microscope, which implies that in all of this, a lot of dexterity is put to play, using the skills and expertise of microbiologists and other scientists. Yeasts that are of poor quality, we were told, are simply discarded to be used as components of livestock feeds among others.
Indeed, this turned out to be yet another little known aspect of the brewing operation, namely, the fact that hardly any material goes to waste. A lot of the by-products are either recycled or used in other industries such as the livestock industry as mentioned earlier.
During the tour, large sections of the brewery appeared to have been literally suffused in the alluring aroma of the flavours and additives. I couldn’t help but ask which particular brand was being brewed. I was told that several different products were actually being brewed at the same time.
Modern technology The early talk on investment in automation was evident from the beginning. Every aspect of production is apparently fully computerised, with hardly any human contact with the products. In addition, the products are transported from one stage of the production process to the other via massive stainless steel pipelines.
Water being the biggest raw material in the factory, we were educated that Guinness takes water preservation very seriously and strives to prevent wastage as much as possible.
The company’s focus on safety was of course one theme that was central to everything else in the brewery.
From the gate, you are reminded on the need to do everything with care, including walking on designated walkways in order to be safe from the occasional fork lift vehicle or indeed any moving machinery. At the reception, we had also been admitted into the initial session with the MD and other executives, only after we had taken a quick course in safety including knowing how to escape from the brewery in the event of a fire-outbreak.
In the bottling and packaging department, we were requested to wear ear plugs just like the employees, who man that division, in order to safeguard our eardrums. We also had on, reflective jackets and protective boots to protect our feet from any accident that might include bottles falling from the conveyor belts. Protective glasses were also worn by everyone in order to protect the eyes from shards of glass in the event of an accident. Cephas Afebuameh the Supply Chain Director who coordinated the factory tour explained that though accidents are extremely rare in the brewery, Guinness leaves no stone unturned in ensuring that its employees and visitors are in a position to minimise risk of harm or injury in the unlikely event that accidents occur.
As with other parts of the ultra modern brewery, every operation including the washing, checking and double checking of the bottles is automated. The bottles are filled automatically in lots and labelled, with each stage being subject to frequent quality control checks. Finally, the products are either shrink-wrapped or packaged in crates and transported for warehousing.
The Factory tour revealed a very modern operation by Guinness and does indeed give credence to its claim that its factory could rank among the most modern factories anywhere in the world, especially given the level of automation and computerisation at work. There is no doubt therefore that the company takes quality very seriously.
Imports of NAFDAC fine The tour interestingly, took place at a time when the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control was reported to have slammed a fine of N1billion on the company for certain infractions regarding one of its facilities, a secondary offsite warehouse.
The Director of Corporate Relations, Sesan Sobowale explained that the said warehouse is an over-flow facility which the company outsourced from a third party for the storage of raw materials that its own warehouses are unable to accommodate. “It is a storage facility for raw materials and not a production facility,” he emphasised.
Sobowale also clarified that Guinness had always routinely destroyed expired raw materials and indeed showed certificates issued by a local government council in Ogun State to buttress this. NAFDAC, he said, was not disputing this but only insisting that it ought to have been involved in the destruction process. He explained that Guinness, as a responsible corporate citizen, takes the query from NAFDAC very seriously and was currently engaging the regulator for more clarification and resolution of the issues. “We are very confident,” he assured, “that issues will be resolved in a very short while.”
Prior our departure journalists were introduced to yet another new product from the stable of Guinness. Gavin Pike the company’s marketing and innovation director explained that the new product has been a fall-out of intense research and development by the local Guinness team in partnership with the other developers across the larger Diageo Group.
Illustrating that Guinness continues to enjoy a thriving and mutually beneficial relationship with NAFDAC which it respects considerably, Pike explained that the approvals for the new product were obtained from NAFDAC only very recently. He added that Guinness will continue to look forward to more of such collaborative engagement as it strives to continuously push the boundaries of innovation.