Uganda Breweries Limited was recently assessed by Ministry of trade, industry and cooperatives on its readiness ahead of the impending national ban on sachet alcohol and they scored satisfactorily.
Speaking during a media round table on Wednesday, Mark Ocitti the UBL Managing Director said, “We are ready and on standby for the directive from government on the clear position of the Sachet ban and will be in position to implement immediately if we can be assured of enforcement of the ban.”
The Managing Director asked government to create a fair and operating business environment by urgently banning alcohol sold in sachets.
“I look at all the sachets out there and always ask myself how they are able to achieve their retail prices and yet, despite the scale of my business, I cannot seem to get Uganda Waragi and Bond 7 to retail for less than 1,500/=, yet these brands go for as low as 600/=,” Ocitti said.
“I suspect that not all sachets is being produced in a compliant manner especially because it is easy to manufacture,” he said adding that there is need for more bulky formats that will force all players to invest in quality products that meet the requisite standards.
Uganda Breweries Limited in 2012 pulled of alcohol packed in sachets when it was banned but when Government didn’t do anything about the players that continued despite the ban, they too made a decision to come back into the space.
