2023-05-01 22:00:08
Gone are Cristaline and AWA, two popular water brands that he had been marketing for more than twenty years in Côte d’Ivoire. The Castel group will be able to concentrate on its Bock, its Flag, and its – aptly named – Castel, which are already flowing freely in this West African country where it dominates the market. The finalization of the sale of these two brands as well as the Ivorian factory that produces them was announced in mid-April. This sprawling French group (6 billion euros in total revenue, 40,000 employees), number one in beer in the French-speaking area but present throughout the continent with also soft drinks, is also active in sugar, food animal or flour – not to mention its leading position in wine production in France. This sale is part of a “strategy to refocus on its core business”, according to a press release. A clear desire since 2022.
Castel, which had the reputation of never selling a factory, seems to accumulate disposals but also acquisitions responding to this strategy. In addition to Côte d’Ivoire, the group is currently finalizing the sale of its water bottling business in Morocco and has “the will to move towards” similar transactions in Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon and Benin. According Young Africa, it also began selling the wheat mills it operates in several Central African countries and in Togo. Conversely, Castel has strengthened its position in beer in Cameroon and Ethiopia by buying for a total of 500 million euros from the British beverage group Diageo two breweries producing Guiness, for which it also acquired the license in these country.
Exit some of the too peripheral activities, therefore, to focus on “foam” – by far the most consumed alcohol in Africa, with an overwhelming 83% of volumes according to the specialized analysis company IWSR – but also on its own drinks. carbonated. A long-standing partnership with Coca-Cola, whose sodas he bottled in a dozen African countries, has come to an end for this reason in particular. At the same time, Castel is showing its desire to move towards integration of the value chain of its beverages, in a context of high inflation, post-Covid disorganization of the logistics sectors and currency scarcity in Africa.
Glass, a strategic axis
Upstream, it has thus invested in recent years in corn processing factories in the Congo, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire (producing in particular corn gritz, a kind of semolina which can be used in the composition of beer in complement of malt). Downstream, it seeks to acquire manufacturers of glass bottles, particularly in Algeria where a letter of intent to buy the local leader Alver has been signed.
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