eBusiness Weekly
Business Writer
Zimbabwe’s beverages giant, Delta Corporation, was able to sustain its viability and even grow volumes for the nine months to December 2020 despite operating under restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The beverages giant’s local operations recorded significant volume growth against the comparable prior year despite operating in an environment characterised by the restriction of movements and social gatherings, closure of on-premise consumption outlets and prohibition of other commercial and social activities that were deemed to pose a risk of spreading Covid-19.
In a trading update, Delta said lager beer volume grew by 20 percent for the nine months to December 2020 compared to the same period last year. For the last reported three months, beer volume was up 48 percent.
Delta said the volume recovery is attributed to the competitive pricing and consistent product supply, benefiting from the injection of new returnable glass and fewer disruptions to production operations.
The sorghum beer volume despite growing by 29 percent in the three months to December 2020, still trailed prior year by 14 percent for the nine months.
However, there was improved market access following the relaxation of the lockdown measures during the last three months of
2020.
“The sorghum beer category was negatively impacted by limited access to trade channels such as bottle stores and rural markets in the first half of the year,” Delta said.
Sparkling beverages volume grew by 42 percent for the nine months compared to prior year.
According to the company, this category has benefited from consistent product supply and competitive pricing.
“The sales mix has shifted towards take-home packs in response to the restrictions on gatherings.”
Associate African Distillers registered volume growth of 37 percent for the quarter and 25 percent for the nine months driven by the spirits and ready to drink ciders.
Delta’s performance was, however, not that great in the region with both its Zambian and South African entities recording volumes decline.
The volume at Natbrew Zambia declined by 2 percent for the quarter and is up 5 percent for the nine months.
Delta said the sorghum beer category has witnessed the resurgence of illegal trading in bulk beer, which trades at a discount to packaged product.
The South African entity, United National Breweries, recorded a year on year decline of 19 percent for the three months to December 2020 as South Africa has implemented very strict restrictions and bans on the sale and consumption of alcohol.
With authorities in regional markets invoking heightened levels of lockdowns in January 2021 in response to the upsurge in Covid-19 infections and emergence of more virulent strains, Delta expects business outturn for the fourth quarter to be subdued.
However, Delta expects the Zimbabwe operations to be an exception “as the economy could benefit from improved access to foreign currency and lower inflation”.
