Bralirwa, Rwanda’s leading beer maker has increased prices of Mutzing and Primus big bottle prices by Rwf100 to cater for the increasing transport costs of imported raw materials.

 Alexander Koch, Bralirwa Commercial Director told business times  on Tuesday that the price increase has been implemented to cover increased input and business costs for the brewer.

 "Basically, there is an increase in prices for malt which is a raw material we use in brewing,” he said, adding that  many raw materials are imported from Europe and their prices have  drastically increased due to the turbulent global economy.

Mutzig 65cl (big bottle) was increased from Rwf800 to Rwf900 while Primus 72 cl (big bottle) also saw a rise to Rwf700 from Rwf600. The two products form a 50 per cent of the company’s output. Alexanda  added that  despite the increase, bralirwa is constantly investing  in its brands with various marketing activities as one way of mantaining  a fair price level for its brands towards the consumers.

 "It is our mission to bring both quality and enjoyment to our consumers, whilst at the same time taking our responsability towards the environment we live and work in. We will continue to maximize the value of our brands for our consumers”, he said.

Aware of the current high demand and anticpated  promising future  of the business environamnet in Rwanda, Koch said that Bralirwa invested  Rwf 4 billion in upgrading the brew house, crates, bottles and fridges to facilitate the maximum availability and quality of its product on the Rwandan market.

Niyonzima Mugabo, a retailer in Kigali said that the price increase will impact on the sales as many people are not willing to spend alot when there are other alternatives.

 "people dont have money these days when you tell them the price they tell you to give them the cheapest instead”, he said.

 Meanwhile, Alexanda noted that the current increase in prices and inflation in  the East african region is not affecting the company’s exports.

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