Nile Breweries Limited (NBL) has announced that the prices have not changed and there are no plans for an increase in the immediate future.
“We are officially announcing that we shall be maintaining the prices of our beer, despite the negative economic pressures faced by businesses across the board,” Onapito Ekomoloit, Legal & Corporate Affairs Director at Nile Breweries Limited, said on Thursday.
According to Onapito, this is deliberate to enable consumers continue to enjoy their favourite beers as they cope with the economic hardships. “We understand that prices of most commodities, including the raw materials we use to make beer, have increased across the country. However, we also understand that Ugandans are still trying to recover from the upheaval that was the Covid-19 lockdown,” he added.
Onapito, however, clarified that the NBL decision is not a guarantee that change in pricing will never happen, but that it is a fair move to ensure their consumers can continue to enjoy their products as they work to get back on their feet.
“In the immediate future our mission is to offer the best products to our consumers. We have been with them for years, we understand issues that affect them, and we want to move at their pace as they go through these hardships,” he said.
NBL Trade Marketing Manager, Molly Horn, urged sellers to respect the recommended prices.
“If you find anyone selling our beer at a higher than recommended price or claiming that we have increased our prices, please inform us and we shall follow up.”
She added: “We affirm that our prices have not changed and there’s no plan for an increase in the immediate future. Customers can relay their complaints through the company toll-free line 0800-204204 or our Customer Interaction Center 256312440600.”
The recommended retail prices have been circulated on the company’s official social media sites and points of sale to raise awareness and drive price compliance along its value chain.
Parliament on Wednesday, 18 May 2022, passed the Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2022 whose object is to amend the Excise Duty Act, 2014, to provide for the definition of “fruit juice”, “un-denatured spirits” and “vegetable juice” and other related matters.
It said factories producing the low cost opaque beer will in the new Financial Year 2022/2023 enjoy a tax relief intended to attract more local manufacturers into the alcohol production industry.
Manufacturers of opaque beer will effective 01 July 2022 pay 12 per cent or Shs150 per litre of the beer produced as compared to the current 20 per cent or Shs230 per litre.
Opaque beers are locally sourced and manufactured beers using a low-cost industrial process.
An example of opaque beer includes Chibuku, a local brew that was produced by Nile Breweries Limited (NBL) until 2018.
In Financial Year 2020/2021, companies were paying 30 per cent or Shs650 per litre in excise tax before the Act was amended in Financial Year 2021/2022 to reduce it to the current 20 per cent or Shs230 per litre.
The committee had proposed that the excise duty rate be reduced to 10 per cent or Shs100 per litre to optimise business, but the House rejected the proposal and settled for 12 per cent or Shs150 per litre on grounds that beer is a non-essential product that should be maximally taxed.
