Skol Lager; everything that Rwandans like in a beer

Stories that Rwandans like drinking are popular talk but while many people would love to send down the day’s dust in a beer gulp, very few enjoy the aftermath of the drinking; the hangovers and the horrible smell all thereafter. Market intelligence like this is what yielded Skol Brewery Limited’s (SBL) most recent addition on the market, Skol Lager. Built light, smooth, crisp, and easy drinking, Skol Lager is by far the only beer on the Rwandan market that a thirsty drinker can gulp down in a swallow to gain the refreshment they deserve after a long working day.

Skol Lager is packed in a 50cl bottle, has an alcohol beverage content of 5% and is now available on the Rwandan market at only Rwf600. Mark Mugarura is SBL’s Marketing Director. He says that the new Skol Lager comes to affirm the company’s presence in the country and increase its customer base by giving Rwandans what they want and deserve.

“This beer is a product of extensive market research which intended to develop a product that many Rwandans would love and enjoy drinking. After acquiring the market intelligence, we developed a number of recipes which were tested and tasted yielding this new Lager and without doubt I believe that majority Rwandans will enjoy it since their tastes created it.” Mr. Mugarura added that Skol Lager is simply a collection of the things Rwandans love in beer, all presented in one bottle.

“What is contained in Skol Lager is a beer recipe that correlates with the demands of beer lovers in Rwanda. All that we did as SBL was to give the people what they want.” Besides the easy drinking aspect however, Skol Lager also comes in a brown bottle branded all in yellow to give it a youthful and energetic look that none has ever had in Rwanda.  The look is what distinguishes Skol Lager as a sports beer exuding the energy, refreshment, and fun only characteristic of sports. This also explains SBL’s launching of the beer at a time when Rwanda and the globe alike, are enjoying the biggest soccer tournament, the World Cup.

To further enhance the fun that sports fans will have while sipping from Skol Lager, Mugarura shared that during the World Cup games, a promotion which involves consumers collecting the tournament coupons placed on the back of the bottles, taking pictures with them and sharing these on SBL’s facebook page, www.facebook.com/skolrwanda. The photos that get the most likes will win prizes every week including balls, sunglasses, and watches, among many other rewards. Skol becomes the lead sponsor of Rayon Football Club. Equally, the sports look of the new beer further tells volumes about SBL’s choice to associate it with Rwanda’s most popular sports club, Rayon Sport Football Club (RSFC), with which the beverage company signed a three year sponsorship deal. SBL’s sponsorship of Rayon Sport for the next three years is both in terms of soccer equipment from the wears to the balls the team will use over the period, and financial support which will see the club receive close to Euros 50,000 every year for the three years.

 “We want to support the growth of Rayon Sport into a formidable soccer team not just in Rwanda but in the East African Region,” SBL’s statement about the sponsorship reads in part. To emphasise what SBL intends to achieve by supporting RSFC, the company’s General Manager Ivan Wulffaert while launching Skol Lager said, “Our partnership with Rayon Sport is not a short lived one but rather an endeavor to build a long lasting relationship that we believe will facilitate the creation of a professionally managed and financially viable business for the club.” Skol’s support already bearing fruits in Rayon’s management. With the deal signed for Skol to be Rayon Sport’s main partner for the next three years, the team is already optimistic at what they will be able to achieve from the new sponsorship.

In a word with the Club’s President Theogene Ntampaka, he offered that the new support from one of Rwanda’s biggest companies is going to boost the quality of players at the club and thereby facilitate the improvement of the quality of football for the team but will trickle down to benefit the country’s soccer in general. “With this partnership, first the team will be dressed in the standard way giving players confidence in the first place while at the same allowing a good impression with the opponent club in case of a match. And with the finances that will come from this sponsorship, we will at least have the capacity to recruit new talent and sustain those we have in good conditions.” SBL begun operations in Rwanda in 2010 and in just less than four years, the beverage company is closing in on the 25% market share target it set to achieve in a five year period.

Quick facts about Skol Brewery Limited The company’s products include;

– Skol Malt

– Gatanu

– Gatanu Panache

– Virunga Mist

– Skol Lager

– Skol cans.

Skol Beer Limited is a subsidiary of Belgium based Unibra which has exclusive rights for producing and selling the Skol brand in Africa. Currently, the brand is present in 10 countries on the African continent but the dream is to grow a Pan African beer brand which would be enjoyed in every part of the region. Besides Africa, Skol beer brand is present across the globe, Asia, the America’s, Europe, and is the most popular beer in Brazi, the host country for this year’s World Cup; thus a sip of Skol Lager is a taste of Brazil’s and consequently