AB INBEV
AB
InBev
WATCH NOW
With breweries in 11 countries on the African continent and a number of local agricultural programmes across half of them , the company is very much driven towards localisation to provide products to the African market . While providing more opportunities to the local farmers in this area , procurement has a role to play in developing the business for the modern industry .
“ Procurement within AB InBev has evolved immensely ,” says Jacques Els , Procurement & Sustainability Director : BU Southeast Africa . “ As the company has modernised , procurement started to evolve within the business purely because of the value procurement can generate for the bottom line .
“ We know industries , specifically in Africa , are struggling . Economies are not growing to the level we would like them to , and therefore the bottom line becomes more and more critical .”
Now that procurement has ‘ a seat at the table ’ within AB InBev , Els believes that new levels of value will be reached now the department has become more influential in the business ’ growth . Els really emphasises the importance of procurement as a function leading the business in a number of areas , including social aspects of enterprise as well as profitability for the overall African segment .
“ Our procurement function has been elevated within the business and it ’ s become even more apparent since we started thinking about the principle of supply chain , which is essentially production , logistics , and the procurement organisations all under one umbrella .
142 September 2023