…the story behind Eden Bars
So, in a night-life hangout in Ghana there’s a familiar scene that plays out: A group of people, laughing, chatting and clinking glasses for a toast. Couples cozy up to each other and strangers buy one another drinks. But the catch this time is – there’s no alcohol.
John Asogonnde is the man with a vision to establish fun, exciting, power-packed entertainment at his bar – serving strictly alcohol-free cocktails and drinks only.
His idea of running a temperance bar stemmed from the ideology that people believe in – “You need to be drunk to get turnt-up or to stay woke during a night-life hangout”.
Background
John grew up in Kejebi in the Oti Region and attended Pal International School for his basic school education. He had his secondary education at the Kejebi Asaase Senior High School then attended Valley View University for tertiary education.
As a one-time alcohol-user and smoker, John narrates: “I used to work the night life since I was 18 years old, and I have always been interested in it. It was my terrain and my lifestyle; from Wednesdays to Sundays you’d find me in Accra ‘living it up’. But in October 2018, my life changed completely for the better”.
But his turnaround from alcohol to non-alcoholic drinks in the night-life was short-lived, as all the pubs and spots served alcoholic drinks alongside a few non-alcoholic ones.
He added that when he quit he became restricted, because “there were no places that accepted me for drinking non-alcoholic only. As someone who was an avid consumer, those environments weren’t enabling, considering the pressure and temptation they came with”.
The birth of Eden Bar
A few months later, John decided to create a space for night-life without going through the pressures of taking alcohol or falling into societal expectations of drinking.
He said: “It shouldn’t be automatic that once you need to enjoy night-life, you have to take alcohol to fit in”.
According to John, he researched a lot and realised there weren’t any temperance bars in the world except for one in New York – which was not so operative at the time.
But in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to his vision of setting up the bar. He however narrates that in 2021, while having a conversation with his sister, his dream to set up Eden Bar was revived. He said: “She was done with school and wanted to go hang-out, but everywhere was dominated with alcohol servings. So she asked me ‘what happened to Eden Bar?’ and that was the push I needed to set up”.
John revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic rather opened the door for beer, spirits and wine companies to produce non-alcoholic products due to the fact that people began to take their health seriously, as health experts advised against the heavy use of alcohol.
“So now people can go and hang-out, wind and spin without getting drunk. They have more control because there is variety for them to choose from. And now more companies have opened such bars. There are about 6 around the world now.”
Why I stopped alcohol
Although Eden Bar is not established on a religious background, John attributes his turnaround to God’s divine intervention.
He said the alcohol and smoking never brought satisfaction to him. “I was listening to a preacher who spoke on stepping out of your prison. He never spoke about alcohol, but he gave me a perspective that made me realise that this was leading me to destruction. He mentioned that God will open the door for you, but you need to step out of it by yourself. I thought of my family, myself. So, one day I woke up and went to the washroom, flushed my last joint (cigarette), took out all the alcohol from my room and never looked back.”
Challenges
Touching on challenges, John said people still discourage him in setting up a non-alcoholic bar because they do not believe in his vision yet.
He also mentioned that setting up a bar is capital intensive, and therefore funding has also been one of his major challenges.
“But that doesn’t deter us. So, instead of waiting to build our own space, we have pop-ups and are gradually working our way up to having a permanent spot.”
How Education has helped
Touching on how education has helped his startup, he said: “I like writing and reading. So, my basic school days nurtured this part of me very well. I wrote a book talking about ‘Quitting Marijuana’ and it has opened doors for me. With Marketing, although I read Human Resource Management in school, I realised I picked up a couple of things from my HR and my experience with customers working with other companies for the night-life”.
Government support
John laments that government interventions for startups are very limited and quite rare in implementation.
He said: “There are things they talk about that are not implemented. The process of benefitting from government incentives is very tedious. Government should make it easy for us by eliminating those who practice the ‘who you know’ syndrome, so that people like us can benefit too.”
Advice to the youth
“Never give up. I am not telling you to stop drinking, but I’m telling you that life is better on the other side,” he said.
Contact details
You can reach John Asogonnde on +233244370760
Instagram- John Asogonnde
Business page – Eden Bar gh on all social media platforms
