{"id":165419,"date":"2024-03-26T05:55:45","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T05:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/03\/26\/eabl-refutes-allegations-of-running-smear-campaign-against-ko-maker-african-originals\/"},"modified":"2024-03-26T05:55:45","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T05:55:45","slug":"eabl-refutes-allegations-of-running-smear-campaign-against-ko-maker-african-originals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/03\/26\/eabl-refutes-allegations-of-running-smear-campaign-against-ko-maker-african-originals\/","title":{"rendered":"EABL Refutes Allegations of Running Smear Campaign Against KO Maker African Originals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-309598\" alt=\"\" width=\"778\" height=\"468\"  data-lazy- src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/eablko.jpg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-309598\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/eablko.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"778\" height=\"468\"  \/>The East African Breweries Limited (EABL) has distanced itself from claims of engaging in a smear campaign against African Originals.<\/p>\n<p>African Originals, a Nairobi-based start-up known for producing the popular \u2018Kenyan Originals\u2019 range of ciders, gins, and iced teas, alleged that the Diageo subsidiary was responsible for the regulatory hurdles it has been encountering.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the \u2018KO\u2019 maker accused EABL of replicating some of its products and backing social media smear campaigns by influencers who purportedly experienced health issues after consuming African Originals\u2019 products.<\/p>\n<p>In a letter addressed to EABL, the company accused the market giant of enlisting Wowzi, a Nairobi-based digital marketing company with ties to top influencers, to conduct an online campaign aimed at defaming KO through strategic tweets.<\/p>\n<p>EABL is alleged to have also enlisted the services of the same digital firm, which specializes in \u2018macro-influencers,\u2019 to lend \u2018authenticity\u2019 to other campaigns.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe are ready and willing to compete with EABL on merit through the quality and prices of our products but we are not prepared to suffer serious commercial harm as a result of their smear campaign,\u201d<\/em> African Originals chairman Henry Rudd wrote in the letter to Diageo\u2019s general counsel in London.<\/p>\n<p>EABL, the largest brewer in the region, introduced a competing line of fruit ciders in December last year, which African Originals described as a \u201cdirect copy\u201d of its products.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, it accused EABL staff of maligning African Originals products and incentivizing supermarket staff not to display its products.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>EABL Statement<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>However, EABL dismissed the claims as unsubstantiated on Monday, March 25, stating in a press release that the allegations are \u201cfalse, defamatory, and lack any evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe do not condone such behaviour within our business by any of our third-party partners or employees. Our commitment to ethical business practices and fair competition remains unwavering and is enshrined in our clear internal policies about how we engage our partners -including influencers \u2013 who must follow and\/or be in line with any local laws,\u201d<\/em> EABL said.<\/p>\n<p>The brewer stated that it has no involvement in African Originals\u2019 \u201cquality issues\u201d and asked the KO maker to retract their allegations.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cEABL will vigorously defend its position and take all necessary steps to protect its reputation and the trust of our customers, consumers, and all other stakeholders,\u201d<\/em> said the brewer.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the first instance of EABL facing allegations of employing unethical business tactics against its competitors.<\/p>\n<p>In the 1990s, EABL engaged in a fierce turf war with the South African brand Castle Brewery, resulting in the closure of the latter\u2019s multi-million-dollar factory in Thika in 2002, leading to the loss of 800 jobs.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, in 2019, EABL became embroiled in a bottle dispute with Keroche Breweries, with the latter accusing EABL of employing unethical tactics to solidify its monopoly in the country\u2019s brewing industry.<\/p>\n<p>EABL faced the Senate in 2020, where it denied the allegations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The East African Breweries Limited (EABL) has distanced itself from claims of engaging in a smear campaign against African Originals. African Originals, a Nairobi-based start-up known for producing the popular \u2018Kenyan Originals\u2019 range of ciders, gins, and iced teas, alleged that the Diageo subsidiary was responsible for the regulatory hurdles it has been encountering. Additionally, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kenya-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>EABL Refutes Allegations of Running Smear Campaign Against KO Maker African Originals - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/03\/26\/eabl-refutes-allegations-of-running-smear-campaign-against-ko-maker-african-originals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EABL Refutes Allegations of Running Smear Campaign Against KO Maker African Originals - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The East African Breweries Limited (EABL) has distanced itself from claims of engaging in a smear campaign against African Originals. 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