WHO WE ARE
The First Of Its Kind
Our Story
Created in 1972, UCB is one of the pioneer brewing companies in Cameroon as well as the largest Cameroon-owned brewery company.
Positioned in the beverages and speciality beer market, our brewery produces thousands of hectoliters every month, which are marketed in glass bottles, PET bottles, and barrels.
Show More
A true jewel of the Cameroonian industrial landscape, UCB takes immense pride in its Cameroonian genetic backbone, its products, services and approach to the market – which is entrenched in its Cameroonian roots. That is why we constantly seek to make and deliver quality products that are mindful and respectful of quality benchmarks and standards to both our consumers and customers.
With half a century of experience making products for our market, we have combined the trifecta of our perfect mastery of the brewing process, our use of top-quality ingredients, and a permanent curiosity in our creation process to create 3 brands of beer, a range of soft drinks and a brand of mineral water; all of which have a well-asserted personality and an inimitable taste that is highly prized by consumers.
It Took Time
Promoting The Brand
Our founder, Joseph Kadji, knew that time was an asset he could use, creating his memorable slogan of “It Took Time” for UCB. This, combined with his relentless drive to improve, the courage to expand and test new avenues and his fundamental values for success saw the UCB brand grow exponentially.
Show More
Using his legacy as our guiding principals, the team at UCB have started to further develop our product portfolio which, paired with an unrivaled ambition to strengthen our reach in the country, is seeing the brand grow further than it ever has before.As we grow, we are focused on ensuring a healthy balance between supply and demand while still keeping to our high product standards.
With this in mind, in 2016 we launched the K44® Beer, which has entered the lager market with incredible success. And, by upholding our company beliefs, we have been able to consistently meet and exceed our customers’ expections.
As we grow, we are focused on ensuring a healthy balance between supply and demand while still keeping to our high product standards.
With this in mind, in 2016 we launched the K44® Beer, which has entered the lager market with incredible success. And, by upholding our company beliefs, we have been able to consistently meet and exceed our customers’ expections.
What We Strive For
Our Values
Creativity
We actively seek to find innovative and creative ways to serve our customers and to meet them wherever they are.
Show More
We believe our customers are the core of our business and staying on our toes, creatively, as we find new ways to improve and deepen our mutual relationship is an act we have bound ourselves to.
Courage
Courage is what started UCB. We are the first Cameroonian-owned brewery.
Show More
This act of courage has resonated in the products we have made and in the markets we have opened and entered. We believe in dreaming big and in dreaming bold, and in taking courageous steps to keep growing our company and its heritage in the spirit of shared pride we have with every Cameroonian.
Integrity
We believe in our commitment to our employees, our partners, our suppliers, and to our shareholders.
Show More
We recognise the value each of these entities brings to the table and how that value is important for our company’s health. We are committed to treating each one of them with fairness and respect.
We are all responsible and mindful of our code of ethics. knowing our conduct has a direct impact on how customers perceive us, our success depends on our honesty and intergrity over time.
Independent & Growing
Our Vision
Thanks to the determination of our employees to innovate and seek new ways of doing things, we offer high quality products and place a high value on skills, knowledge, teamwork and leadership, encouraging our employees to develop themselves and share best practices with one another.
Our Guiding Principles
Our Charter
1. Integrated, Ethical & Transparent
1.1. Respect Human Rights and Dignity
- We respect the laws that protect individuals, children, women, people with disabilities and all those who may be subject to discrimination of any kind.
- We oppose all forms of inhuman and degrading treatment.
- We also ensure that the practices of our business partners are consistent with our commitments in this area.
1.2. Compliance With the Law: Ethics and Transparency
- We prohibit the practice of bribery, corruption and influence peddling from any source in our activities.
- We prohibit and condemn the practice of conflicts of interest and insider trading.
- We monitor and report financial flows that may have a dubious origin or criminal destination.
- We respect the laws of the market and fight against illicit trade and anti-competitive agreements.
- We practice transparency, particularly in accounting, tax and customs matters, and cooperate with authorized control bodies.
- We put in place mechanisms to prevent, detect and denounce abuse of corporate assets.
- We ensure the protection of personal and commercial data of our business partners and employees.
- We protect and defend our own intellectual property rights and respect those of all our employees and partners.
- We encourage dialogue between shareholders on the one hand, and between shareholders and institutional investors, regulators and financial market operators on the other, with the aim of building a relationship of trust, which is the key to sustainable development.
2. A Responsible Employer
2.1. Non-Discriminatory Recruitment and Career Devlopment of Employees
- We ensure transparent recruitment and promotion of employees.
- We contribute to the career development of employees through individual and group training and encourage them to contribute by sharing their experience, expertise and know-how with other colleagues.
- We encourage employees to work from home at specified times.
- We also ensure that the practices of our business partners are consistent with our commitments in this area.
2.2. Safety - Health and Freedom of Employees
- We provide appropriate training and tools to reduce work-related accidents and illnesses and to prevent psychosocial risks.
- We value the work-life balance of our employees and pay special attention to major life events.
- We do not tolerate any form of moral or sexual harassment of employees.
- We encourage dialogue as a means of improving the social climate.
- We recognize the political and trade union freedom of our employees.
3. A Group Of Corporate Citizens
3.1. Respect For The Environment and Biodiversity
3.2. Charity
3.3. Responsible Lobbying
Our Commitment to You
Quality Commitment
The Highest Standard
Simply put, quality is fitness for use or conformance with user’s requirements. It describes the levels of standards of products produced and services rendered.
Show More
Prior to industrialization, there was little or no emphasis on quality standards. However, with industrial revolution in the 18th century, there was increased competition and improvement in the quality of goods and services.
There was a change in culture from the Traditional Attitudes when there was poor customer orientation, poor commitment and poor maintenance culture to Quality Management with a focus on customer requirements/satisfaction, preventive measures, perpetual improvement and leadership commitment.
Today, quality planning which is the process of identifying the customer (External and Internal) and defining their needs and designing products and services to meet those needs is an integral part of Quality Management.
In the Manufacturing Industry where we (UCB) belong, quality of product means the totality of the attributes of such product that determine its acceptability to the consumer, such as taste, odour, colour, mouthfeel, packaging and presentation. It is a measure of excellence or state of being free from defects, deficiency and significant variations. It is brought about by strict and consistent commitment to certain standards that achieve uniformity of a product in order to satisfy specific customer(s).
Quality Commitment
The main activity of Union Camerounaise de Brasseries (UCB) is the manufacturing and marketing of beers, soft drinks and water. The company is blessed with thousands of loyal consumers due to the quality of its products.
Show More
Quality management is positioned at the heart of the company’s activities in order to satisfy all the stakeholders as well as sustain the company’s experience and expertise. Our Quality Policy is effectively communicated across the entire organization together with a complete picture of customer’s opinion about our products and services for informed and strategic decision making.
The Quality of UCB products differentiate them from those of other products in the market. We see quality as our success factor, our way towards excellence, and we promote it whenever the need arises.
Our Beliefs
The slogans “Savourez la Qualité”, “Quality Back to School”, “Quality Beer, Quality Life”, etc. are all synonymous with UCB products.
Show More
We are currently ISO 9001:2015 certified, to ensure that we meet the needs of our customers and other stakeholders while meeting statutory and regulatory requirements both at local and international levels.
Our philosophy is that of continuous and never-ending improvement. Our focus on quality never-stops as the quality train continues in its journey…
Our Founder
Joseph Kadji Defosso was a pioneer Cameroonian industrialist and founder of the Kadji Group.
Born in 1923, Kadji Defosso left his hometown Bana for Douala where he started working for Greek merchants. He went thereafter into petty trade selling food products, equipment and office supplies, and slowly grew his businesses.
Show More
He traded in coffee, and cocoa and did some import and export. From thereon, he expanded his business into retail, opening the first Cameroon-owned supermarket in Douala in 1974, then into real estate, ultimately building his first hotel, the Arcade Hotel in Douala in 1984 (now K-Hotel), and then into transport and logistics.
He also took a keen interest in the cinema, owning and operating 17 cinema halls in Cameroon; in Douala, Yaounde, Nkongsamba, Limbe, Buea, Tiko, and Muyuka. These halls were a focal point in culture and entertainment in Cameroon, hosting shows for renowned musicians of the time like James Brown and Claude Francois.
He created a football school in 1995, the Kadji Sports Academy, which has produced footballers of international repute like Samuel Eto’o and Geremi Njitap.
Despite limited schooling, Kadji Defosso was an astute businessman who saw his business ventures as a large, interwoven web where one part of the business could uphold another. In 1978, for example, he established Polyplast, a rubber-processing company that made plastic products like beer crates for the UCB brewery.
Kadji Defosso remains best known amongst Cameroonians, for establishing the UCB brewery in 1972, and for its flagship beer brand that carries his name – Kadji Beer. He knew how to give and share moments of happiness with as many people as possible through the foundation that bears his name. He passed away on August 23, 2018 in South Africa at the age of 95.
Joseph Kadji Defosso was also active in the real estate sector with the Kadji Square and the Cauris, Hibiscus and Baobab buildings.
In order to encourage excellence and promote education, Joseph Kadji Defosso will create the Fu’a Toula Kadji Defosso Foundation.
Show More
Raised to the dignity of Grand Officer of the National Order of Valor, Joseph Kadji Defosso died at the age of 95, leaving many inconsolable children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“Nothing is acquired in a day. Avoid the pitfalls of convenience. Have vision. Dare to take your destiny into your own hands.“