The Zambian Breweries (ZB) has confirmed that there is a shortage of alcoholic beverages on the Zambian market due to the disruption in the supply chain that was caused by the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic.
ZB Director of Corporate Affairs Ezekiel Sekele said this is as a result of some of the alcoholic beverages that come into Zambia from South Africa not being imported due to South Africa closing its borders during the Covid 19 pandemic.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Sekele said some finished products and raw materials are beginning to come into the country but not to the extent that the company would like and this is because South Africa has to fill up its market place and attend to its challenges before fully concentrating on exporting.
Sekele said the company is doing its best to meet the required production levels, working beyond its capacity at the moment trying to ensure that the whole market is stable and consumers are able to choose from a variety of products and is also trying to ensure that the gaps in the market place are managed and reduced.
“We are producing more than we were producing in the previous months and we are working 24/7, we are producing at full capacity. Because of the supply chain disruption experienced in the last six months and with the percentage of imports not coming in, instead of people getting the different choices of local and imported products available, they are only getting mosi, castle, eagle so the demand on the ZB locally produced products has increased, he said.”
He also said that another challenge is the fact that Zambia does not produce glass and the company had put in procurement plans for the whole year but some of the suppliers from the countries where glass is imported from were not operating, so ZB couldn’t get enough glass coming into the country.
“We have been engaging the government to have Kapiri Glass Product to start operating, if there can be an investor who can invest in this company and produce the necessary equipment that will allow us to tap into the market, we will create a market for glass and stop importing, he said.”
He also noted that when there are issues of demand and supply variances in business, some people may engage in unfair business practices such as increasing prices and that is called price abuse.
Sekele said he was aware that some retailers have increased the price which is not right and they should be reported to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) which is the relevant authority.
He also explained that ZB sells at the Recommended Retail Price (RRP) and can only recommend prices to resellers but if they decide to increase prices, they should be able to pay the incremental tax to Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) but most of them are not doing that.
Sekele mentioned that this year around April, May, June and July, in line with the Ministry of Health guidelines, the company was encouraging it’s consumers to drink from home, therefore a lot of stock of containers are sitted in people’s homes and now that demand has gone up, ZB is running a campaign called Chinja Bottle.
Members of the public who have empty crates and bottles are being encouraged to have them exchanged for money in a bid for Zambian Breweries to collect some of its containers. He commended government for allowing the company to operate even though it was not producing optimally; the company was not completely shut down.
