eBusiness Weekly
Kuda Mhundwa and Mike Tome
Schweppes Zimbabwe says it will boost production of fruit juices, cordials and water brands to meet local and foreign demand as the group eyes export led growth, a senior executive said.
This comes as the beverages giant’s operations were being choked by severe foreign currency shortages, which have seen production fluctuating due to challenges around access to raw materials.
Schweppes Zimbabwe general manager Demos Mbauya, said its priority in 2019 was increasing the group’s export revenue generation capacity and increasing production of its product lines.
“Our priority for 2019 is increasing our export revenue generation capacity and focusing on reducing our import bill through local sourcing and import substitution. We do understand that our environment is a bit challenging but we are not holding back on our investments, we see a big opportunity in our product lines.
“We are planning on expanding our production capacity in some of the categories, for example, water. There is an opportunity in that category despite the challenges that are being experienced. We are also seeing opportunity in the region in respect to our juice and our cordials business.
“Focus will be placed on driving expansion primarily to diversify risk but more importantly to generate foreign currency so we can drive our business going forward. We are seeing challenges.
“We believe in focusing on things that are within our control. That is, we want to generate our own foreign currency and we want to expand our production capacity to meet both local and regional requirements,” said Mbauya.
Mbauya said last year the group made significant inroads in boosting its export business and that they had already identified strategic markets that include South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.
“In terms of exports we are focusing on juice and cordials, in 2018 we were rebooting our export business and we are anticipating two-fold growth in 2019 because we have set the base and have identified the markets.
“We have been doing a lot of work around market development and market penetration and we should be seeing the benefits of the work that we have been doing in 2019 around our exports. We are focusing on Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa.
“The biggest opportunity for our country right now lies in South Africa and Zambia. If you look at the economy of Zambia, there are a lot of positives that are happening there and also considering the GDP of that country, its demographics, consumer demand and consumer purchasing patterns we see big opportunities so those are the countries that we are focusing on in terms of our exports,” he said.
Schweppes is a manufacturer and distributor of non-carbonated still beverages under licence from The Coca-Cola Company.
The product portfolio currently includes cordials, fruit juices, bottled water and flavoured drinks.
These products are marketed under leading brand names including Mazoe, Minute Maid and Schweppes Water.
Manufacturing is undertaken at the two branches, Harare and Bulawayo. The group’s branches have warehousing and distribution facilities from which they also supply the depots.
