The battle for winning the taste for beer of Nigeria consumers in the brewery industry has been fierce and intense in the last couple of years now. A whopping 18 million Hectoliters of beer is consumed yearly and the figures keep rising. At the heart of this massive competition is one of Nigeria’s foremost branded Brewery: Nigeria Brewery PLC with headquarters in Lagos and an impressive 10 operational breweries under its fold.
Coincidentally, two of its brands: Goldberg Lager Beer and Gulder Lager Beer have been fighting tooth and nail to grab a piece of the consumer’s cake. It has been a keen contest and from all indications, Goldberg seems to be more popular than its counterpart; Gulder Lager Beer.
What has been the cutting edge that has made Goldberg Larger beer more acceptable and popular among Nigerians?
Goldberg Lager beer which was first brewed on October 2011 has a unique attraction among youths in Nigeria. Nigeria Youth population estimated at 61 million (per 2016 National Population Commission records) are key players when it comes to the beer consumption industry.
More than 60% of youths are attracted to Goldberg due to its affordability (N200) and its unique taste. Gulder Lager Beer on the other hand goes for N250- N300 per bottle, being a premium brand.
Sharing his personal experience as a distributor and consumer of beer, David from Delta State had this to say:
“Most of my clients who are youths usually complain of headache whenever they consume Gulder compared to when they consume Goldberg. I drink both personally and I’ve seen the difference both brands have had on me. Most times I sell more than 12 crates of Goldberg daily compared to just 8 crates of Gulder”
Beer consumption takes a chunk out of the average drinker’s monthly income. Comparatively, people tend to go for affordable beers rather than the more popular brands like Gulder Lager Beer due to this cost implication. According to the World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, Nigeria ranks third in the world’s poor, where seven percent of the worlds poor live in Nigeria. Considering the minimum wage of the average worker in Nigeria still stands at N18,000 per month and majority still struggle with unemployment, the obvious choice between Goldberg and Gulder Lager Beer is narrowed down to money in the pocket.
Goldberg is pocket friendly! I had a somewhat funny discussion with a friend; we got together for a meeting and to my surprise, the drinking parlor had more people ordering for Goldberg including this friend of mine; I commented on my observation and he told me ‘it is cheap and good… ‘ That’s what Nigerians need right now and I do not think it is changing anytime soon.
As a result of its affordability and obvious choice among majority of beer consumers, Goldberg seems to be more available than Gulder Lager beer which tends to be the more reserved choice for elites and higher income earners. Nigeria Brewery PLC with its vast distribution Network in Lagos, Aba, Kaduna, Ibadan, Enugu, Ota, Onitsha, Ijebu-Ode and Markudi have ensured the constant availability of Goldberg and Gulder Lager Beer. The difference between both is the volume of supply, with Goldberg getting more volume due to market force of supply and demand.
ABV which simply means Alcohol by Volume, is the parameter used in measuring the alcohol content per beer. The higher the ABV, the more intoxicating the beer becomes. Goldberg with an ABV of 5.2 which is considered moderate, appears to be more acceptable to majority of beer consumers compared to Gulder Lager Beer with an ABV of 7.5
In all, the beer consumption market appears to be heating up as the year is gradually coming to an end what with festivities and an increased demand for both products. As is expected, the two competitors -Goldberg and Gulder are doing all they can via television advert, online advert, print media adverts and word of mouth promotion adverts to get a firm grip of the market.
It is clear though that Goldberg has come to stay and has garnered a large size of the beer consumption market to its own. Whether Gulder can topple this new popularity is still unclear. Granted, Gulder is part of the old block but then, the younger generation have no such memory or loyalty ultimately controlled by their pockets.
