Kenya: Wine industry set to grow with changing lifestyle in country, says expert

With the brewing culture of social wine drinking in Kenya, the Wine industry is set to grow in 2021, according to a report by Capital Business.

As said by Sonia Mansoui, the owner of Chez Sonia, one of the popular wine bars in the capital Nairobi, the wine industry is about to observe a rise in wine consumption due to evolving lifestyle trends among the Kenyans and with a rise in disposable income among rising middle-income consumer group.

The availability of the product in the market is also a beneficiary point for the growth of the wine industry, she added.

“Other factors include advertising of various brands and popularity of wines at corporate functions and restaurants,” Sonia said.

The wine market of Kenya holds the potential to produce over 7.2m litres of wine annually, as per the data indicated by Wine East Africa 2020, with average revenue of Sh8.6b, as per the report.

She further added, "we have also seen an increase in production of Kenyan wineries that include Yatta Wines from The Trade Kenya Wine Agencies, as well as Leleshwa Wines from the Rift Valley Winery that has increased availability of product in the Kenyan Market”.

Going forward Sonia said that the expansion of consumer education and repute of local wine brands would continue to play an immense role in increasing the size of the market.

“As restaurants continue pairing wine with meals and local producers and distributors continue to invest in consumer education and advertising the Industry will continue to grow exponentially,” she added.