Hey folks, get this – Zimbabweans have been chugging down lager beer like there’s no tomorrow.
In fact, they’ve drunk so much of it that Delta Beverages, the country’s biggest brewer, made a whopping US$713 million in revenue in 2022.
That’s a lot of beer money.
According to the company, the increase in demand for beer was due to government construction projects, miners, farmers, and workers receiving more foreign currency.
But, they also mentioned that the exchange rate crisis, poor infrastructure, inflation, and even traffic jams are major risks to their business.
I can imagine getting stuck in traffic and not being able to get your hands on a cold one – the horror.
Apparently, 67% of Delta Beverages’ sales are in US dollars, and they use their own internal measures to gauge real inflation and prepare their unaudited accounts.
The indicative USD profit for the year was US$140.6 million.
CEO Matlhogonolo Valela said that they achieved record volumes, which were higher than their theoretical capacity.
He even said that they were pushing their machines to the limit – talk about dedication to the craft.
Sorghum beer has also been a hit, with sales breaking past the four million hectolitre mark.
Valela even quipped that they hadn’t seen this level of sales since 1998, when war veterans received their gratuities and that’s a long time ago.
To keep up with the demand, the company spent US$70 million on capital expenditure last year to increase capacity and sell more beverages.
They’re even adding 33% more capacity in the returnable glass production line by June to supply the market better.
However, they’re facing some major obstacles in the form of poor infrastructure and traffic congestion. Valela said that the road network outside of main cities is terrible, which is compromising their ability to supply their customers.
In the cities, traffic jams are causing delays in getting the beer to where it needs to go.
Another concern for Delta Beverages was the supply of maize.
To address this, they’re expanding the hectarage that they contract so that they can secure their own maize without having to rely on the Grain Marketing Board.
Valela even boasted that they’re the biggest land bank in the country!
Delta Beverages also mentioned that they don’t see Heineken’s takeover of Distell, which owns its associate Afdis, as a threat.
In fact, they see it as an area of cooperation.
Maybe they’ll even start brewing some new beers together – who knows?
Zimbabweans love their beer, and Delta Beverages is reaping the benefits.
But, they’re also facing some major challenges that they’ll need to overcome if they want to keep the beer flowing.
Here’s hoping they can sort out their infrastructure and traffic problems, and keep the cold ones coming!
