When Dr. Maggie Kigozi stepped into Crown Beverages Limited (CBL) in 1994 following the death of her husband and co-founder, Eng. Dan Kigozi, she wasn’t merely inheriting shares—she was inheriting a dream. One year earlier, Dan, alongside business partners Amos Nzeyi and Chris Kayoboke, had acquired the assets of the defunct, state-owned Lake Victoria Bottling Company (LVBC) and secured a critical franchise from PepsiCo. The trio renamed the company Crown Bottlers Limited—later Crown Beverages—and set out to transform it into a world-class beverage enterprise. More than thirty years on, that dream has not only endured—it has expanded into something extraordinary….
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On Saturday, September 14, Uganda Breweries Ltd (UBL) hosted several industry captains and business moguls as they relaunched the highly anticipated Johnnie Walker Blue Club. The landmark event, held at the picturesque Pineapple Bay Island, a premier venue known for its exclusivity and prestige, marked a significant moment in Uganda’s business landscape. The exclusive Club is a premier networking platform designed to foster meaningful connections and unlock new opportunities for its members. A reserve for individuals who epitomise excellence and distinction, the club offers meticulously curated events that seamlessly merge business discourse with refined luxury. The re-launch on Saturday was…
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Name: Amos Nzeyi Source of Wealth: Carbonated Soft Drinks and Water, Hospitality & Tourism, Confectionaries & Real Estate Age: 75 years Estimated Worth: US$ 57 million (UGX200 billion) Amos is a Ugandan businessman, entrepreneur, and industrialist who started business at quite an early age. He has been in business for more than 50 years. Amos was born in 1947 in Kabale in what was then known as the Kigezi region. His father used to work at the White Horse Inn, the oldest and still one of the best hotels in Kabale, which the businessman has since acquired. He started selling…
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Crown Beverages (Mauritius) Ltd has appointed Paddy Muramiirah, formerly, the Crown Beverages Uganda Chief Executive Officer to head its entry into the Kenyan market. Last week, we reported that the billionaire owners of Uganda’s Crown Beverages, Amos Nzeyi, Chris Kayoboke and Maggie Kigozi were close to acquiring SBC Kenya Ltd (SBC Kenya), a Kenyan beverages maker. SBC Kenya Ltd (SBC Kenya), which is fully owned by Kenya Bottling Company Limited, operates a bottling plant in Nairobi as an independent bottler for PepsiCo products within Kenya. In Uganda, Crown Beverages (Uganda) is the franchise bottler of global food, snack, and beverage…
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The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has cleared Crown Beverages (Mauritius) Ltd to acquire the entire issued share capital of Kenya Bottling Company Limited. SBC Kenya Ltd (SBC Kenya), which is fully owned by Kenya Bottling Company Limited, operates a bottling plant in Nairobi as an independent bottler for PepsiCo products within Kenya. In a Gazette Notice No.91, CAK said that “Pursuant to the provisions of section 46 (6) of the Competition Act, 2010, it is notified for general information that in exercise of the powers conferred upon the Competition Authority by section 46 (6) (a) (ii) of the Competition…
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When in 1993, Amos Nzeyi, and his partners, Chris Kayoboke and the now deceased Dan Kigozi, made a bid to buy what was left of the assets of the then government-owned Lake Victoria Bottling Company (LVBC), the company was in tatters. According to Nzeyi, who is now the company’s Executive Chairman, “There was one old line, not enough coolers, bottles, trucks or infrastructure”. “The company was being subsidised by the government to be able to buy raw materials from PepsiCo and even pay, its workers,” Nzeyi recalls. At the time LVBC’s assets were put up for privatisation, the state…
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Crown Beverages Limited, the franchisee bottler for PepsiCo International has no doubt, matured both as a large player in the Ugandan non-alcoholic drinks category as well as in the broader corporate Uganda category. If the numbers are anything to go by, the company has nearly if not completely claimed back much of the territory it, in the yesteryears, lost to Century Bottling Limited (recently rebranded into Coca-Cola Beverages Uganda Limited (CCBU)). According to figures exclusively available to CEO East Africa Magazine, CBL which bottles, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Mirinda, Sting, Evervess Tonic and Nivana water, in 2021, turned over UGX513.6 billion,…
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Aquafina is available in a 500ml pack at a recommended retail price of One Thousand Uganda Shillings (1000 UGX) only, countrywide. Aquafina is the first international water brand in Uganda. Aquafina is bottled at the CBL’s state-of-the-art USD76 million (UGX279 billion plant) at Kakungulu, Ssisa, off the Entebbe Expressway. This is CBL’s second plant, after the legacy Nakawa plant, which has undergone several extensions and upgrades. The plant was financed by Citibank and Stanbic, to the tune of USD 50 million. The remaining USD26 million was shareholder re-investment into the business. Alongside Aquafina, the plant also bottles other CBL products-…
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Uganda’s bottled drinking water sector has been growing unprecedentedly. There are over 100 registered players, with an estimated total turnover of UGX400 billion. Rwenzori Mineral Water is the market leader and contributes more than a quarter of Coca-Cola Beverages Uganda’s (CCBU) turnover. Fresh from winning back, nearly all of its lost market share in the carbonated soft drinks category from CCBU, Crown Beverages Limited, Uganda’s oldest beverage company has now recalibrated its guns with eyes on winning a chunk of the lucrative bottled drinking water category. This November, CBL introduced a new brand of water- Aquafina. Aquafina, enriched mineral water…
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