Chinese brewed beer gets foothold in Angola

Bela beer, a brand new beer brewed by the China Investment Fund (CIF) Luanda Brewery LTD, is emerging in all shopping centers in Luanda and adding a new flavor for local beer consumers.

"I love Bela, the beer seems light but very tasty", said 45- year-old Sebastio Junior, who was taking a 12-bottle pack of Bela from the shelters of the Jumbo shopping mall in southern Luanda, "I called my friends to join me for Bela to mark the labor day as we are having a day off."

Bela beer, a product from the newly established beer plant in Luanda with an investment of 180 million U.S. dollars from the China International Fund has been in trial operation since September 2014, and now its products were on sale in all major shopping malls in Luanda, Geneal Manager of the plant Buhe Bater said.

"We were determined to produce the best beer in Angola and Africa as a whole", said Bater in an interview with Xinhua.

Bater's beer was produced under the brand of Bela, including tinned, bottled or fresh beer, and he said his plant planned to sell Bela to all of Angola's 18 provinces, as the plant was able to produce 100,000 tons of beer each year if it was in full-swing operation.

Bela beer was specially designed and tailored to the taste of local people and was selling well in shopping centers in Luanda and there was no sluggish seasons for beer sale as it was normally warm all year round in Luanda and most parts of the country, Bater said.

The general manager said the equipments of his plant were imported from Germany and milled malt and other raw materials were imported from Czech or Australia to guarantee the quality of the beer.

CIF Luanda Brewery LTD is one of the first pioneering Chinese enterprises operating in Angola which was keen to kick off its industrialization process to diversify its oil dependent national economy.

Han Cuirong, a top brewing expert from China and chief engineer of the brewery, said Bela beer has met international standards in terms of flavor, stability and reliability due to strict quality controls and management, and the beer plant also trained Angolan brewing experts and workers and providing 250 jobs to local residents.

The Chinese beer plant was actively supported by Angolan government and the Bela brand was personnel named by Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos during an inspection tour of the plant on October 9, 2014. Endi