Beer in Cameroon: a story best served cold

In every neighbourhood there is a moment when the crates arrive. A truck, a tricycle, sometimes a wheelbarrow: beer is part of the landscape in Cameroon, like the yellow taxi and the sound of the snack-bars on a Friday night. But behind the 65 cl bottle, there is a story that starts long before us.

1948: it all starts in Douala

The Société anonyme des Brasseries du Cameroun was born in Douala in 1948. Until then, beer came from far away, by ship. A few years later the first beers brewed in the country left the factory, and the labels began to feel like family: Beaufort in the early 1950s, “33” Export in 1962.

Since 1948, in Douala

Names everyone knows

In 1990 the Castel group took control of the company; Mützig joined the house the following year. Across the way, Guinness has brewed in Douala since the late 1960s, and the Union camerounaise de brasseries, of the Kadji group, holds its place with Kadji Beer. In 2022 Castel also took over Guinness Cameroon, and a new brewer, Brasaf, launched its first beer.

The result: in Cameroon you do not order “a beer”. You order a name. And that name sometimes says a lot about the person saying it.

Even the kilometres have a brand

The snack-bar, the country’s second living room

Beer is not drunk alone here. It is drunk at the snack-bar, with colleagues after work, with friends in front of the match, with family on Sunday. You sit down, you order, someone says “this round is mine”, and the conversation does the rest. NiceThings groups the snack-bars of Yaoundé and Douala: that is often where the city tells its story best.

And you, which side are you on?

• In your family, which bottle is always on the table for big occasions?
• Your favourite snack-bar, and why?
• A brand that disappeared and that you miss?

Tell us in a comment, just below.

Photos: Minette Lontsie (opening photo and billboard) and Serieminou, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Sources: Wikipedia, Osidimbea, EcoMatin, Team France Export.