The company that fills Accra’s drinking spots with Alomo Bitters began in a garage in Nungua with five employees. That is how Kasapreko tells its own story, and it is one of the better rags-to-shelves tales in Ghanaian manufacturing.
Kwabena Adjei
Kasapreko was established in 1989 by Dr Kwabena Adjei, a Ghanaian businessman. Some websites credit other founders, but the company’s own account and mainstream Ghanaian business reporting name Adjei. He set up the business at Nungua, east of central Accra, in a modest space and with a tiny workforce.
Alomo Bitters
The flagship product is Alomo Bitters, a herbal alcoholic drink. Kasapreko describes it as the first scientifically formulated herbal-based alcoholic beverage in Ghana, and a 2013 packaging trade publication called it the first Ghanaian herbal bitters made on an industrial scale.
Herbal bitters have deep roots in Ghanaian drinking culture, where they are sold with claims about health and vitality. Kasapreko’s achievement was to take a familiar idea, put it in a consistent, branded bottle and sell it at scale through bars, drinking spots and wholesalers across the country.
Advertising with music
Alomo Bitters advertising became part of Ghanaian popular culture, with radio and television jingles and sponsorship of music events. The company has worked with well-known musicians on campaigns, and its brands appear at concerts, festivals and funerals, which in Ghana are social events as much as solemn ones.
Beyond bitters
Kasapreko grew a wide range of products: gins, liqueurs, energy drinks and non-alcoholic drinks. It built a large factory in the Spintex and Baatsona area, and it has exported to other African markets. Ghanaian Times reported its expansion drive into Kenya, a sign of how far a Nungua company had travelled.
Quality and regulation
The alcohol business in Ghana is closely watched by the Food and Drugs Authority, which approves products and advertising and has tightened rules on alcohol marketing over the years. Kasapreko has spoken publicly about product quality as it faces both regulators and cheaper competitors, including unregistered local brands.
A manufacturing story
Ghana often talks about adding value to what it produces rather than importing finished goods. Kasapreko is one of the plain examples. It turned local herbal knowledge and imported spirit into a branded product that sells in its millions, and it did it from Nungua, not from a foreign head office.
