Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) has launched its new line extension, Chrome Gin. It joins Chrome Vodka, which the company launched in December 2014. KBL has said the new spirit, which is 40% ABV and comes in 750 ml and 250 ml glass bottles, is targeted at millennials.
Chrome Gin is priced at KSh600 ($5.50) for 750ml, compared to Ksh1,200 ($11.00) for Gilbey’s and Ksh1,300 ($11.90) for Beefeater. Packaging is a premium-looking green glass bottle and a bright, modern label (in contrast to more austere, traditional labels of most imported brands), designed to give the appearance of craft gin. The brand has been launched in time for demand at Christmas.
KBL was founded in 1922 and forms part of Diageo subsidiary East African Breweries Ltd. Diageo owns gin brands including Tanqueray, Gordon’s and Gilbey’s.
Chrome Gin sits at the opposite end of the market to Kenya’s most famous gin, Procera. Procera is batch distilled in the Kenyan highlands and only 1000 bottles a month are made. It retails for upwards of $100 a bottle and won gold medal at the prestigious 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Procera is named after Juniper Procera, (African juniper), which only grows in the highlands of Kenya and Ethiopia.
