The award winning brands

BY FRANCIS EZEM

Guinness Nigeria Plc.’s mainstream spirit brands have won medals at the recently concluded San Francisco World Spirits Competition SFWSC, despite stiff competition from over 2,200 international brands. The SFWSC, which is a highly regarded competition, was established in year 2000 to recognise exceptional products in the spirits category.

The Guinness Gordon’s Moringa Citrus blend, which is an innovation introduced less than two years ago won a gold medal in the Gin category of the competition. While commenting in this exceptional performance of the less than two years old brand, the SFSWC screening panel said: “A Gold Medal is awarded to products deemed exceptional spirits near the pinnacle of achievement that set the standard for their categories’.

Similarly, the company’s Smirnoff X1 Vodka performed admirably, having bagged silver medals for its Intense Chocolate and Extra smooth variants. Other category leaders; Orijin Bitters and McDowell’s No.1 Whisky won bronze medals in the respective categories.

Meanwhile, Marketing Manager for Guinness Nigeria’s Spirits Portfolio, Aigbeme Okonkwo, while speaking on the exceptional performance of the spirit brands has this to say: “We are excited to have been recognised as trailblazers in our craft which is a reflection of our commitment to providing quality brands for our consumers to enjoy and celebrate with, every day and everywhere.’

Investigations however showed that each of the winning spirits is proudly made in Nigeria, which further underscores the consistent Global Quality Management Standards deployed by Guinness across its production plants all over the world.

Available records also show that the 2018 edition of the competition remains the biggest in its 18-year history, featuring well over 2,200 entries, even an SFWSC medal has become a recognised affirmation of high quality and one of the most reliable and universal indications of spirits excellence.

Guinness Nigeria, known for its quality brands, is a subsidiary of Diageo Plc of the United Kingdom and was incorporated in 1962 with the construction of a brewery in Ikeja, the heart of Lagos. The brewery was the first Guinness operation outside Ireland and Great Britain, and so Guinness Nigeria has grown tremendously over the years and cemented its place in the hearts of Nigerian stout drinkers as the favourite bold premium stout.