Bar and restaurant operators in the Gambia have been affected following the shutdown of Gambia’s oldest and sole producer of breweries, Banjul Breweries Limited in April 2020.
The French subsidiary group of Castel’s closure came months after Gambia government hike excise tax from 10 to 75 percent.
A report showed the government collected D214 million from the company in 2019 and in 2020, Government generated D55 million tax revenue from ‘Banjul Breweries’.
Pa Jeng, proprietor of JJ restaurant who spoke to The Voice exclusively said: “the closure of Banjul Breweries has a great impact on his business, noting he nowadays get low sale for drinks because its products are not available anymore.”
“Most of my customers are familiar with Banjul Breweries soft drinks such as Vimto, Malta and WXXL than products of other factories. Many people do not like the drinks that I sell at moment because they are not familiar with them (these soft drinks). I have to convince them to buy the drink,” he added.
He said Banjul Breweries products are cheaper than products from other drink factories, saying a basket of Banjul Breweries cost D370 while other companies’ sale it at D4 20.
According to him, when Banjul Breweries was operating, he used to sell 5 baskets of cocktail, 3 baskets of Vimto and 2 baskets of Malta, adding “but now I sell one basket of coca cola in a week.”
He challenged the idea closure of the company while described it a wrong idea on ground that many are affected either directly or indirectly.
Mariam Den, manager of Francisca Restaurant also expressed displeasure on the closure of the company, saying “the closure of the company has affected my business because I am no longer getting the profit I was getting from the soft drinks.”
She said at the point she relies on other products such as Follomi can drinks, nutria milk, sport energy drink among others for sale.
She added “the market of these products is slow compare to the Banjul Breweries’ products. Some people will ask me the price but as soon as I tell them they will go without buying it.”
In fact, I get very little profit from the current drinks I am selling because it’s expensive, she said.
She said the company should have not been closed, noting many people prefer its products to other soft drinks.
Bubacarr Bah, a shop keeper who sale soft drink also said: “The closure of the company has affected me. In fact, about 95% of the drinks I was selling were coming from Banjul Breweries but now none of those products is available.”
He added that many prefer Banjul Breweries soft drink; therefore, making his market on drinks good and faster.