The maiden virtual edition of the Ghana Beverage Awards has been successfully organised in adherence to the stipulated COVID-19 protocols and to ensure the safety of all its stakeholders. Club Beer emerged the winner of the prestigious Product of the Year award which is the ultimate award.

Other winners on the night include, Voltic Natural Mineral Water, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Alomo Bitters, Blue Skies, Rush energy drink, Vitamilk chocolate and Kpoo Keke Liqueur.

The maiden virtual edition of the awards which was streamed live online and on e.TV Ghana, GTV and GTV Sports Plus was held under the theme “Inspiring Excellence in Ghana’s Beverage Industry” with the aim of promoting both local and foreign beverages as well as the participation of small-scale beverage enterprises in Ghana.

In delivering the welcome remarks, Chief Executive Officer of Global Media Alliance Group (GMA), Mr. Ernest Boateng explained the rationale behind the virtual awards;

“Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic both in Ghana and globally, as a nation we have been advised by the President of our Republic to adhere to all the social distancing protocols and other directives which will help us to control the spread of COVID-19. We have therefore gone ahead to organize the virtual awards and stream live both on TV and online. As an organization, this is our way of proceeding to celebrate excellence in the beverage industry while adhering to all the recommended directives without endangering lives,” he explained.

In a lead up to this year’s awards, a beverage Industry Tour was organized for the GBA board to visit nominated companies to familiarize with their work and practices. This initiative is one of the new activities which was introduced in the build-up to the 2019 Awards Night.

Read also: Ghana Beverage Awards to host first virtual awards ceremony

This year, GBA introduced two new categories; Local Beverage Advertisement of the Year and International Liqueur of the Year. The addition of the new categories is to acknowledge feedback from stakeholders, particularly consumers who have been instrumental in the nominations phase. The Local Beverage Advertisement of the Year Award went to the Kasapreko at 20 while the International Liqueur of the year was won by Baileys Irish Cream.

The Ghana Beverage Awards is organized by Global Media Alliance. Supporting partners are the Food Research Institute (FRI) under CSIR, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Consumer Protection Agency and the Food and Beverage Association of Ghana (FABAG).

Other partners for this year’s awards include Perception Management International, Telande, Sunseekers Tours, Archbert Media, GTV, GTV Plus, Kencity Media Group, Citi FM, Daily Graphic, The Chronicle, Business 24, Ghanaweb, The Publisher, GTV and GTV Sports+.