Heineken-owned Nigerian Breweries has launched Ace Desire, a hibiscus-flavoured (zobo) ready-to-drink spirits brand aimed at young adult consumers.
Nigerian Breweries, which is majority owned by the Dutch brewing giant Heineken, has launched a new hibiscus flavoured ready-to-drink spirits brand.
The new brand, called Ace Desire, contains natural hibiscus extracts, and is based on zobo, a traditional beverage made with hibiscus (known as zobo in Hausa) flowers. Hibiscus-flavoured beverages are made across West Africa, including in Benin, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Mali and Senegal. In Nigeria, zobo is often mixed with fruit juices and has ginger added to it. In the Caribbean, it is used to make a similar beverage known as sorrel drink.
Ace Desire has a sparkling wine colour and comes in a 33cl glass bottle and is 5.5% abv. It is currently being launched in retail outlets across Nigeria. The new brand is the latest in the Ace range of ready-to-drink spirits and the first launch in more than 18 months. In December 2014 Nigerian Breweries launched apple-flavoured Ace Passion. In March 2015 it launched Ace Roots, which was flavoured with African herbs and roots. In November 2015 it launched Ace Rhythm, a vodka and citrus flavoured drink.
The new brand reflects a growing trend for alcoholic drinks in Nigeria using traditional flavours. As importantly, these innovative new products are capable of crossing over into Europe, the US and the Americas, where cultural trends emerging out of West Africa and the Caribbean are starting to gain more traction.
