The rise of branded alcoholic drinks in West Africa

Abstract

“I want Stork brand," wrote Accra merchant Alexander Bruce in a letter to the Henkes distillery in 1887, ordering 500 cases of gin. 1 According to Bruce, the Stork brand was “very marketable” and sold faster than the other brands he traded in. That this West African trader imported distilled liquor is not surprising, given how well-established the trade in imported liquor had become by the late-nineteenth century. What needs explaining, however, is his insistence on this specific brand.