BUSINESS REPORTER
Zimbabwe’s largest brewer, Delta Corporation Limited says the new production lines will boost domestic and regional product supply.
In order to increase production as demand kept rising, Delta last month commissioned the new PET packaging and Chibuku Super plants.
“The business will benefit from the improved product supply following the commissioning of additional packaging capacity,” company secretary, Faith Musinga (pictured) said in a statement accompanying the company’s trading update for the quarter to June 30, 2023.7.31
She added: “Product supply will improve following the commissioning of a new bottling line at the end of the quarter and the continued investment in returnable glass bottles.
“There were some gaps in product supply arising from the disruptions to supply of utilities and scheduled critical plant maintenance.”
Revenue for the group grew by163% in the quarter to June 30, 2023,driven by the growth in volume.
The revenue in American dollar terms grew by 10% over prior year.
Volumes for the lager beer grew by 12% in the reviewed period compared to prior comparative period.
The sorghum beer volume in Zimbabwe grew by 7% for the quarter compared to prior year.
Its wines and spirit unit, African Distillers Limited reported a 11% volume growth in the period under review, driven by the Ready to Drink and spirits categories.
Associate entity Schweppes Holdings Africa Limited reported a 5% volume growth, which was constrained by the limited output of juice drinks and bottled water arising from a plant breakdown, which has since been resolved.
The volumes at Nampak Zimbabwe Limited were trending in line with the growth in the key customer sectors.
There were disruptions to production arising from power cuts.
According to Musinga, the emphasis is still on entering new trade channels and streamlining the consumer distribution chain.
In the future, Musinga, said the emphasis will be on seizing opportunities from activities that produce aggregate demand, such as mining operations, infrastructure development projects, and remittances from abroad.
However, there are still economic headwinds that have an impact on the supply, logistics, pricing, and volatility of commodities.
