One of Seychelles largest commercial companies, Seychelles Breweries Ltd, is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a series of activities that will go on until June next year.

The highlight of SBL's 30th anniversary is a musical concert by an international group with surprise artists who will perform at Stad Lanmizik sometime during the first quarter of next year.

Early next year it will also organise a brewery open day.

In the meantime SBL has launched a discounted promotion of R50 cents on Guinness, a promotion that will go until January 31. There will also be distribution of its special 30th anniversary T-Shirts to stakeholders and several interesting activities are also being planned for its staff.

Commissioned in February 1972 with only 250 shareholders, the Le Rocher-based company has grown remarkably and today boasts 1300 shareholders out of whom 1200 are Seychellois responsible for the successful management of one of the country's major economic contributors, through tax payment.

Seychelles Breweries Limited itself was created by a British born entrepreneur, Mr Robert N. Wells in the late 1960s. In 1972, its first bottle of SeyBrew rolled off the production line and sold at R1 a bottle, followed by Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, the world's first global beer brand, launched in Seychelles at R1.50  

The launching of the Guinness was the result of the partnership struck with Guinness Plc which invested in 26% of SBL's shares. This culminated in a friendly take-over in October 1993, when the foreign company took the majority share. The new ties forged enabled  SBL to acquire management and technical resources as well as brewing expertise.

Guinness is brewed in 50 countries and sold in 150 countries worldwide.

SBL further expanded with the launch of SeyPearl soft drinks which started with a few flavours in 1972, EKU Bavaria in 1984, Cocktail de Fruits in 1990 and Appletise in 1991, but this last product was taken off the market in 1999 as a result of high foreign exchange costs.

In 1993, SBL joined forces with Coca-Cola to bring the world's leading soft drink to Seychelles along with Diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta. In 1998, the company made a record sale of one million Coca-Cola bottles boosted by the 1998 World Cup promotion.

Today SBL sells an average of 5,800 hectolitres of beer and 8,000 hectolitres of soft drinks per month. The company employs over 230 locals, who are kept up to date with latest technological developments in the brewery industry through overseas courses and international brewery examinations. In order to maintain the high quality of its products, the company also has highly trained quality control personnel who constantly monitor the products throughout the entire production process from raw materials to storage.    

Throughout the financial year of 2001/2002, SBL made an important contribution of 74% of its wealth, over R180 million, to the country's economy. The company has reiterated its commitment to continue contributing to ensure the country's economic growth.

Besides direct economic input, SBL is also one of the country's most important social and environment partners.

The company's commitment to environment protection can be seen through its R1 deposit of bottles to avoid littering in the environment and the commissioning of the PET bottles in 1998 which was done under a "green" project. Seychelles is one of very few markets where the consumers are able to obtain R1 deposits on returned PET bottles, which SBL then grind and re-export for recycle. It has also supported environment projects such as Shoals of Capricorn in which it donated R800,000 and it is also a major Clean up the World activist. Its willingness to support environment-related projects has earned the company a certificate of recognition in the Jean-Baptiste de Philogene Award.

The Global Guinness Celebration Day, which has become an annual event now, is the day the doors of SBL's factory are closed and its employees set aside their computer key boards, pens, and other office gadgets, arm themselves with spades, hair trimmers, manicure sets, and set out to do voluntary work at several old people's homes and psychiatric hospital. The elderly are also spoiled with parties and gift packs.

The company has plans to further intensify its contribution vis à vis the environment as well as towards the HIV/AIDS prevention programme.  SBL is to date one of the few companies which have drafted its won HIV/AIDS policy to ensure that not only its employees are educated about the pandemic, but also to protect them against any type of discrimination.

"The employees are our most important asset and as a company we feel it is our duty to protect them, and to date we are the only company with the best HIV/AIDS package for employees and we want to be the leading company in the fight against HIV/AIDS," Mr Denis Payette, the marketing manager told Business Nation.

SBL, Mr Payette said, has a very intensive HIV/AIDS educational programme for employees conducted by its own "champion." The policy, he said,  protected the HIV/AIDS infected people against losing their jobs just because of their positive status and ensure that they continue to work in comfort for the rest of their lives.

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