brana - Haiti Observer Blog

The national beer that has twice taken home gold in the 'Lager' category of the World Beer Cup (in 2000 and 2012), Prestige Beer has a new image, said to fit the change a-brewing in fair Haiti. The new look, announced by the producers of the lager, Brasserie Nationale d'Haiti S.A. (Brana), embodies not just a new beginning for the beer and for the country, but also shows off Haiti's past, its heritage and culture, all in one bottle.

According to Prestige Beer brand manager, Laurent Lilavois, the company chose the new image for the strong, youthful look that is both modern and patriotic. Its blue and red theme speaks to progress and modernity, while it harkens to Haitian tradition. He says, it fluently expresses the change Haiti is now, 'open to' while being oriented towards innovation and advancement.

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Former United States President and United Nations envoy to Haiti, Bill Clinton, recently led a group of representatives of the Agricultural Investment Delegation, while on a visit to Haiti, to the Smallholder Farmers Alliance's (SFA) tree nursery in Gonaïves. There, the foundation, started by and named for President Clinton, awarded a grant to the SFA cooperative of $150,000 USD with the aim of supporting the efforts of the organization to facilitate growth, manage and improve its nursery operations and give it sustainability.

The endowment follows the impetus of the bigger initiative launched by Clinton, Richard Branson and Mohammed Yunus to reforest Haiti as it further calls for an equal number of trees to be planted and maintained. The Gonaïves nursery is in a central place of focus for this project, being in the very region where the planned ten thousand hectares of land to be donated to agriculture is located.

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When talking about breweries in Haiti, Brasserie National D'Haiti (BRANA) would surely come up. Why? Because it is the leading brewery and bottler, as well as the number one Caribbean beer producer in the country. Michael Madsen, a Haitian whose family was considered one of the richest clans that time, established BRANA in 1973. His family came to Haiti from Denmark in the latter years of the 19th century. For almost 40 years, BRANA has also been managing the production and distribution of PepsiCo International products in Haiti. It covers popular soft drink brands, including 7up, Pepsi, and Teem.

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