Guinness Ghana Breweries (GGBL), the Diageo-owned brewer, has invested $10m in a new PET bottling line to meet consumer demand for plastic bottles. The company hopes that the move will help drive uptake of its non-alcoholic beverages.

The investment has been for the acquisition of a new PET line with a capacity of 60,000 bottles per hour. The company will be using the new PET format for its Malta Guinness, Alvaro and Orijin Zero brands. All are non-alcoholic drinks.

In 2015 GGBL launched the alcoholic Orijin brand in Ghana, following a highly successful launch in Nigeria. In 2017, responding to consumer demand for non-alcoholic drinks, it launched the non-alcoholic Orijin Zero onto the market. Ghana’s growing Muslim community accounts for 20% of the country’s population, although non-alcoholic drinks such as Malta Guinness are popular across all sections of the population. Also in 2017, the Ghanian government launched its first national alcohol policy, designed to improve regulation and safety in the alcoholic drinks industry and to promote abstinence.

Ghana is an important market for Diageo. GGBL not only brews but also distributes leading Diageo spirits brands such as Johnnie Walker and Gordon’s. In 2015 Diageo acquired a further 20% stake in Guinness Ghana Breweries from Heineken, raising its total stake in GGBL to 72.42%. The deal also involved Heineken acquiring Diageo’s stakes in Jamaican brewer Desnoes & Geddes Ltd and GAPL Pte Ltd, the majority owner of Malaysia’s Guinness Anchor Berhad.