By Tofarati Ige
Nigerian Breweries (NB) Plc Friday, February 27 unveiled Ace Roots, a low sugar, African herbs and spirit mixed drink at a ceremony in Ikeja, Lagos.
The drink, its makers say, has been packaged as a healthy and Ready to Drink (RTD) product which will give drinkers renewed vigour and improve their sexual vitality.
Speaking at the launch, NB’s Sales Director, Herbert Eze, promised that Ace Roots is a drink many across the country will immensely enjoy.
Comparing it to the popular Orijin by Guinness Nigeria Plc, some gusats at the launch argued that Ace is a far better and safer alternative.
“Ace Roots is very safe and health-friendly unlike others like it. For example, in Orijin, there are no natural fruits, while Ace was wholly made with real fruits and herbs. Also, Orijin has five cubes of sugar per bottle, while Ace has only one cube of sugar in a bottle,” one said.
According to Eze, other strong points of Ace include the fact that a lot of research went into it as regards the African tradition and culture which places a lot of emphasis on herbs and roots as very medicinal.
“ACE Roots is the result of a painstaking customer research which Nigerian Breweries carried out. We have discovered that in addition to being young, ambitious and enterprising, today’s Nigerian consumer is also African. They do not just live in Africa, Africa lives in them as well and they want some Africa in their food, fashion, music and drink.
“We decided to create a product which combines all that this consumer wants and ACE Roots is the result. We have also faithfully adhered to original African recipes in the choice of fruits, herbs extracts and spices used for the drink. These are actual extracts and not flavourings which makes us confident that our customers and consumers will love the freshness of the product. ACE Roots has an authentic African soul like those who drink it,” Eze said.
Marketing Director, Walter Drenth, while speaking about the drink said “ACE Roots symbolises a call to action for everyone; customers and consumers to go back to their roots of true African herbs, fruits and spice extracts with low sugar. It’s a great innovation, one that we at Nigerian Breweries are very proud of, and we are confident our young and vibrant consumers will appreciate this game changing brand.”
A documentary aired at the launch stated that “our African forebears were very wise, and they were able to cure a lot of diseases and illness with herbs and roots which made them have sexual vitality, and also live to ripe old ages.”
Other Nigeria Breweries executives at the launch include Moses Ogbodo (Regional Business Manager), Yinka Bakare (Marketing Manager for Non-Alcoholic drinks), Nema Yemisi (Senior Brand Manager), Kola Oluborode (Trade Marketing Execution Manager), Olubukola Dare (Regional Trade Manager), Nnenna Ifebigh-Hemeson (Brand Manager, CSD and ACE), as well as some of the company’s key distributors such as Alhaji Taofeek Sodia amongst others.
Celebrities like Bovi Ugboma, who was the compere; Wande Coal, who performed; BlackMagic, Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi, Korede Bello, EFA and DJ Lamboghinny were also in attendance to add colour to the launch.
