Asmara Brewery

Asmara Brewery
Location Asmara, Eritrea
Opened 1939 (as "Melotti Brewery")
Annual production volume 400,000
Owned by Asmara Brewery Corporation
Active beers
Name Type
Asmara Lager Beer Lager
Asmara Extra Stout Stout

Asmara Brewery (formerly, Melotti Brewery) was the first brewery in Eritrea, founded in 1938. The brewery was nationalized by the Derg during the Eritrean War of Independence. The brewery operates a football team, which plays in the Eritrean Premier League.

History

The brewery was founded in 1938 (and started production in 1939) by Italian engineer Luigi Melotti.[1] Melotti, the wealthy owner, built the famous "Villa Melotti" on the southern tip of Taulud Island.[2] During WW2 and until the 1950s it was one of the biggest companies in Eritrea.


Asmara Brewery was originally established in 1939 in Asmara, where it is presently located. The Present site of the factory was previously used as a depot of road construction materials.It was set up by Eng. Luigi Melotti, an Italian National who came to Eritrea during the Italian colonial period, as an expert in road construction.The factory, to start with, used to produce liquor products based on rudimentary technology.Asmara Brewery Corporation S.C. was originally established during the Italian colonial period, to start with, to produce alcoholic drinks (liquor) on a small scale.Over the years, the Brewery went through major developments, in terms of product quality improvement, diversification and plant capacity expansion and modernization, to become a highly reputed plant of its kind[3]


The brewery was nationalized by the Derg during the Eritrean War of Independence, and was then inherited by the Government of Eritrea. Ownership in the brewery is shared between investors and the Government of Eritrea. In 1998, its factory exported up to 40% of production, with the remainder being domestically consumed.[4]

At one stage the factory employed over 400 employees, but production has been affected since 2000. The company suffers from a lack of skilled workers and materials. As of February 2009 production had virtually ceased and there was an insufficient supply for the markets.[5] In 2015 the crisis was over and the production was back to normal levels, with exports also to Sweden and Europe[6]

Overview

The "Asmara Brewery" plants' surface is of 100,000 square metres, 25,000 of which covered by modern and functional buildings. The industrial activity includes: the distillery, the liquor factory, the brewery, the glass factory.

DISTILLERY: the distillery is composed of a very modern installation for the production of alcohol from musts of dense wines, as this activity was installed for the industrial exploitation of the fruit of the dum palm. The distillery installation has a daily producing capability of 24 hectolitres of denatured alcohol exceeding 96o.

LIQUORS FACTORY: the liquors' production has been, in the main, directed toward those qualities which find easy sale with the ethiopian consumer, and the Melotti Liquor Factory markets several kinds of liquors particularly appreciated by the clientele. The productive capability is of about 50,000 bottles monthly. The liquors most requested are: Anise - Cognac - Fernet - Gin - Zibib.

BREWERY: Born during the war period in order to satisfy contingent necessities, under the impulse of the Eng. Luigi Melotti, initially, and of the widow Mrs. Emma Santini Melotti, later, the beer industry has constantly directed its own efforts to satisfy the market's exigency, both concerning the product's quality as well as the price. This program forces her to update continuously her installations. The product is appreciated in all the country and even abroad where only currency difficulties limit her already flourishing export course. The annual productive capability is of about 500,000 hectolitres of beer.

SAVA GLASS FACTORY:The glass factory started, in a vaster way, its own production in the month of January 1960 with the new installations which, emplaced in 1959, will allow a production which extends from the 90 gr bottle to the 1000 gr bottle and to a vast range of glasses, which will meet a favorable and satisfying setting in all the local markets.

Brewery products

The brewery produces a wide range of beverages. One of its best known is Ariki, an aniseed-flavored spirit.[7]

Football team

The brewery operates a football team, which plays in the Eritrean Premier League since the 1990s[8] The team was initially founded in 1944 with the name Asmara Birra by the engineer Melotti[9] (he had already founded in 1938 the GS Melotti team [10]).

See also

References

  1. ↑ (in Italian) Cronologia storica dell'Eritrea Archived November 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Phillips, Matt; Carillet, Jean-Bernard (2006). Ethiopia & Eritrea. Ediz. Inglese. Lonely Planet. p. 341. ISBN 978-1-74104-436-2.
  3. ↑ Asmara brewery history
  4. ↑ Killion, Tom (1998). Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-3437-5.
  5. ↑ Tesfagiorgis, Mussie (29 October 2010). Eritrea. ABC-CLIO. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-59884-232-6.
  6. ↑ Exports in 2015
  7. ↑ Denison, Edward; Paice, Edward (2007). Eritrea: The Bradt Travel Guide. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-84162-171-5.
  8. ↑ "Asmara Brewery FC". National-football-teams.com. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  9. ↑ Foundation of the oldest Eritrean football teams
  10. ↑ 1936-1941 first football championships in Eritrea (in Italian)
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