Keroche Breweries is set to make a comeback after plans to revive the Kenyan brewer kicked off early this year.
This is after Edward Muigai, the son of Keroche founder and Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja, took over the company’s operations in a bid to prevent the collapse of the billion-dollar empire and create employment for Kenyans.
The company, which is now rebranding to KB, has begun recruiting employees. The countrywide recruitment drive is set to last for at least three months—until March 15—after which the teams will get down to business.
“It got to a point where I decided that we couldn’t just sit and watch a billion-dollar empire like Keroche just rot to the ground. This business took years of hard work and unimaginable sacrifices. I just thought it would be great to bring it back to life and also, offer employment to thousands of qualified men and women languishing in poverty across this country.” Muigai said.
Keroche Breweries, which was founded in 1997 by Tabitha Karanja and her husband Joseph Karanja has witnessed financial struggles and unending tax disputes which led to its closure in December 2021, and again in June 2022.
This was after the brewer and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) failed to agree on how to settle the outstanding tax arrears amounting to Ksh.322 million that had prompted the closure of the factory in December 2021.
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The company had allegedly defaulted on this earlier agreement to gradually settle its outstanding tax arrears, which it denied.
In the agreement Keroche Breweries was to pay Sh.957 million to the taxman over a period of 24 months starting January 2022.
According to Tabitha Karanja, Keroche’s woes began after the outbreak of the covid 19 pandemic and the immediate aftershocks which led to poor cash flows that limited its financial performance.
The company’s flagship brand is Summit Lager. It also brews Summit Malt and KB Lager beers as well as vodkas, dry gin and whiskey.
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