South African Breweries (SAB) says it is on its way to sourcing 100% of all its raw materials from local suppliers.
SAB, a subsidiary of global brewer AB InBev, said this had been instrumental in the business achieving a Level 3 broad-based black-economic empowerment (BBBEE) status, up from Level 4.
“We are proud to source just over 97% of all of our raw materials, including barley, hops and maize from local suppliers, many of which are emerging black farmers and other small, medium and micro-sized enterprises who we support and help develop through our intensive entrepreneurship and agricultural programmes,” said Zoleka Lisa, VP corporate affairs at SAB and AB InBev Africa.
SAB said a critical focus since the business combination between SABMiller and AB InBev at the end of 2016 was the radical transformation of its supply chain, bringing the producer and consumer closer together and, in turn, helping to strengthen the local economy.
“We are a proudly South African company and believe that this should be evident throughout our value chain," Lisa said.