Sustainability: Seychelles Breweries pledges to go fully green

A high delegation met with the president on Wednesday. (Seychelles Nation)

(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles Breweries company wants to improve its sustainability by going fully green in the coming years, the managing director revealed on Wednesday.

Yvonne Mwangi made the statement after meeting with the Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan at State House.

She told reporters that the company has begun implementing its sustainability master plan.

“We have a masterplan that we want to achieve by the year 2030, which is going to cost us about £8.8 million, to make sure that we remain a sustainable brewery on the island,” said Mwangi.

She added that the brewery is already using five percent solar energy and the company is building an effluent treatment plant, with more innovations coming. These will ensure that the company will be one of the few in Africa to be net-zero carbon.

Mwangi said discussions also touched on the role of Seychelles Breweries in responsible drinking and the partnership that the company can have with the Ministry of Health on that subject.

“We are committed to making sure that we educate consumers on alcohol and what it does to the body,” said Mwangi.

She added that Seychelles Breweries wants to get people into the brewery to see how alcohol is produced so that consumers can understand that they can drink alcohol responsibly.

“We are very clear about how we produce our alcohol and the quality that goes into it, and we would rather the people drink better than drink more,” added Mwangi.

She said the company is okay with losing a bit of their sales as long as people are drinking better.

Mwangi is replacing the outgoing managing director of Seychelles Breweries, Conor Neiland, who has been with the company since 2020.

She was accompanied on her visit to the president by, the managing director for Emerging African Markets at Diageo, Andrew Ross, and the commercial director of Seychelles Breweries, Bertrand Belle.

Seychelles Breweries, which was established in July 1972, has a workforce of over 90 percent Seychellois. The flagship product of the company is the SeyBrew beer, which has been produced since 1972.

The company also produces and bottles a range of alcohol-based beverages and soft drinks, including Slow Turtle Cider, EKU Bavaria, Guinness, Smirnoff Black, Smirnoff Red, along with its SeyPearl and Coca-Cola product range of non-alcoholic drinks. 

Its parent company Diageo, is a British multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England, and operates from 132 sites around the world.