More beer for Africa: CDM harnesses KHS tech to build “biggest and most modern” brewery

11 Jan 2023 --- Belgian multinational AB InBev’s subsidiary Cervejas de Moçambique (CDM) in Mozambique, East Africa, has built a new brewery with tech support from KHS.

The focal point of the new location is a returnable glass line from KHS, on which up to 80,000 550-milliliter bottles per hour can be filled – accounting for about 95% of total sales. This line capacity is “exceptionally high” for the African continent, explains Tobias Zeimentz, key account manager at KHS. 

“In this region, it’s rare to find more than 40,000 bottles per hour being processed,” he says.

Following an investment of roughly €150 million (US$161M), the “biggest and most modern brewery in Mozambique and the whole of Africa,” as Tomaz Salomao, CEO at CDM, puts it, the plant officially went into operation in the summer of 2021.

The two KHS Innofill Glass DPG ECO fillers at the new production site in Marracuene form the hub of the new line.Labeling and filling innovations
Two modular KHS labelers have been installed at CDM, reportedly for the “first time” worldwide.

The machines can be equipped with various stations that can be changed over quickly as they are easily docked and undocked using a lifting truck. This flexibility gives CDM greater future security, enabling it to react quickly and efficiently to new trends and dynamic market developments.

The KHS labeling technology has performance figures of 0.054% faulty labels and an efficiency of over 99%.

Besides the KHS labelers, two Innofill Glass DPG ECO fillers proved especially convincing with “extremely low” TPO (total package oxygen) pickup values of 19 micrograms per liter and a low CO2 consumption of 150 grams per hectoliter. “They underline KHS’ status as the first choice for filling technology,” says KHS.

Navigating headwinds
The project faced challenges during Tropical Cyclone Idai and the COVID-19 pandemic, slowing the construction despite the KHS’ international network.

“Our local team in Marracuene now faced the challenge of commissioning this 80,000-BPH line through online meetings, phone and video calls and KHS’ remote maintenance service ReDiS without any advance training,” recounts Frank Schepping, technical director at CDM.

“This, of course, initially turned our ramp-up plan on its head. With lots of hard work, overtime and a few sleepless nights, however, we finally managed to ramp our most important format, the 550-milliliter bottle, up to capacity so that we were able to supply local consumers with our beer.”

In addition to its traditional beer brands 2M – brewed since 1950, the name of which is reminiscent of French president Patrice de MacMahon – and Laurentina – the first beer ever brewed in Mozambique in 1932 – since 2011, CDM has also brewed Impala – one of the first commercial cassava crop beers in Africa.

“With a turnover of around €300 million (US$322M) in 2021, the CDM brewery, largely owned by the AB InBev Group, is by far the largest local beer producer and market leader,” the company shares. The modular labelers from KHS are efficient and flexible with stations that can be changed over within a short time.

African continent investments
In October, Watercom expanded its production capacity in Tanzania by adding two KHS lines for water, soft drinks and juice. The extension followed a boom in economic growth within the country. 

Watercom invested €100 million (US$99 million) in the new lines to meet Tanzania’s rising demand for beverage bottlers. Reportedly, Tanzania has the highest bottled water consumption of any African country.

Meanwhile, US-based Nexgen Packaging scaled production in Africa by establishing headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. With this investment, the trim and packaging solutions provider aimed to bring a wide-ranging set of capabilities and product offerings to the African market, focusing on environmentally sustainable solutions.

Located in the Export Processing Zone in Athi River, Nexgen’s construction of its African headquarters will position the company to “meet the growing demand from manufacturers in Africa,” it says.

Joining the continent's recent industry investments and climate action policy changes, KHS and CDM’s production unit is now the “fastest” returnable glass line.

Edited by Radhika Sikaria