Nairobi-based Alcohol Startup African Originals Faces Regulatory Hurdles that Threaten to Push it Out of the Kenyan Market

This follows a dirty tricks campaign it alleges has been waged by Diageo subsidiary East African Breweries Limited (EABL). The seven-year-old startup is known for its “Kenyan Originals” range of ciders, gins, and iced teas. EABL, the region’s largest brewer, launched a competing range of ciders in December last year. Since then, African Originals claims to have faced a barrage of challenges it blames on EABL, prompting it to hire a team of U.K.-based legal advisors this year. In a letter dated Feb. 19, sent by African Originals to Diageo’s general counsel in London, laid out the allegations in their dispute. African Originals described EABL’s new range of fruit ciders as a “direct copy” of its products. It also claimed EABL staff had maligned their products, and incentivized supermarket workers not to display their products, citing specific incidents at two supermarkets in Nairobi. EABL is the third-largest company on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) by market cap and employs around 1,500 people. In 2020, multiple senators accused the company of engaging in restrictive trade practices. The company has consistently denied these allegations.

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