Consumer preferences and market potential for sorghum based clear beer in Tanzania

Abstract

This paper assessed the influence of consumers on sorghum based clear beer (Eagle) value chain in Tanzania. The specific objectives were to assess consumers' preferences and market potential of Eagle beer in Tanzania. The study areas were Moshi Rural and Karatu Districts in Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions respectively in Northern Tanzania. In these regions, the Eagle beer was launched for the first time by the manufacturers, that is, Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) in 2007. The respondents were selected purposely from different drinking outlets in Moshi Rural and Karatu districts. The findings show that the majority of the Eagle consumers were males, 87% in Moshi Rural and 93% in Karatu districts, respectively and their mean age was 36 years. The educational level of most of the consumers was primary education that is 63% for Moshi Rural and 67% for Karatu districts, respectively. The majority of consumers were married that is 73% in Moshi Rural and 60% in Karatu districts respectively. Most consumers shifted to Eagle due to reasonable price followed by its taste. The mean beer consumption was 20.5 bottles (500 ml) per week for Moshi Rural district consumers and 32 bottles per week for Karatu district consumers. Most preferred drinking outlet in Moshi Rural was bar (43%) followed by grocery stores (33%) whereby in Karatu, the most preferred outlet was grocery store (53%) followed by bars (43%). Most Eagle consumers shifted from drinking other beer brands and very few shifted from drinking spirits and locally produced beer or wines. However, 83% of Eagle consumers in Moshi Rural and 86% in Karatu districts respectively were consuming TBL products before switching to Eagle beer. The remaining were consuming non-TBL products and local drinks. The logistic regression analysis whereby consumers' willingness to buy (WTB) Eagle beer was a dependent variable, showed that consumers' taste of Eagle beer, consumers' preference, grocery stores and bars were statistically significant. Log-linear regression analysis results whereby Eagle beer weekly consumption was a dependent variable showed that consumers' taste and preference of Eagle beer and household income were statistically significant. Therefore, it is concluded that price, taste, preferences and household income had influence on Eagle beer consumption in Moshi Rural and Karatu districts respectively. It is therefore recommended that more marketing and promotion should be done in order to capture the market share that is still enjoyed by locally produced drinks and non-TBL products. However, care should be taken as this might cannibalize other TBL brands. Hence, as long as Eagle market is there, TBL will continue to buy sorghum from farmers and therefore farmers' income will be improved.

Interactive effects of in situ rainwater harvesting techniques and fertilizer sources on mitigation of soil moisture stress for sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) in dryland areas of Tanzania

“…Wheat and barley production, which prefer cool weather condition, have been decreasing yearly to meet industrial demands (Asseng et al 2015;Liu et al 2016). Sorghum, which has been the main staple food in the marginal and prone dryland areas, has become a potential cash crop in Africa and the world in general (Odhiambo 2011;Makindara et al 2013;Heard 2014). Although sorghum is in high demand as the staple food and industrial raw material (Heard 2014;TBL 2011TBL , 2016, its supply to meet the demand is limited due to the decline in yield production attributed to low rainfall, a high rate of evapotranspiration, inter-and intra-annual rainfall variability, surface runoff, and the inherently poor soil fertility status in the dryland areas where the crop is majorly cultivated.…”

A Field Survey to Assess the Consumption of <i>Nkang</i> for Standardization and Valorization in the North-West Region of Cameroon

“…This shows that the consumers can easily identify these beers types from their sensory attributes [22].…”

Sorghum value chain analysis in semi-arid Zimbabwe

“…47 No. 1, 2019: 164 -178 Mushunje, Mutenje & Pfukwa http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2413-3221/2019 reported by Rohrbach and Kiriwaggulu, (2007), and encouraging results in a clear beer sorghum based value chain were observed by Makindara et al (2013). In Southern Africa, value chains have been analysed for sorghum seed in Zambia by Hamukwala et al (2010), key crops including maize and sorghum in Malawi by Chemionics International Inc. (2009) and fish in Malawi by Phiri et al (2013).…”

“…They face low market prices and high transaction costs. This is due to remoteness of prime production zones from the main viable market centres, poor institutional support networks and a biased policy environment (Makindara et al, 2013). In the low rainfall and high temperature areas of Southern Africa, agricultural production, processing, marketing and consumption systems are dominated by maize at the expense of potential 'orphan crops' such as sorghum.…”