Categories: Stories

Delta cuts beer prices because of weak demand

Delta Beverages has slashed prices for its lager beers by between five and 10 cents from today to offset softening demand, the company said  yesterday.

“The price of the popular pint and quart packs has been reduced from $0.90 to $0.80 and $1.55 to $1.50, respectively.  All other brands and pack prices remain unchanged,” the listed brewer said in a statement.

The general manager for the Lager beer business unit, Munyaradzi Nyandoro said the cuts will improve affordability.

“It is our sincere hope that our consumers will be happy with the early cheer ahead of the festive season,” he said.

Delta, 38 percent owned by global brewing giant SABMiller, has been registering reduced sales in the past two years due to falling disposable incomes that are forcing drinkers to find alternatives to lagers.

Delta reported a four percent decline in revenue to $576.6 million for the full year to March 2015 on depressed sales from both its sparkling drinks and larger beers.

Lager beer volumes were down 17 percent on prior year while soft drinks volumes, comprising both sparkling and alternative beverages, slumped six percent on prior year.

Sorghum beer sales were up eight percent on prior year driven by Chibuku Super with the brand attaining a 50 percent contribution to total volumes by March 2015.

In its audited financial results for the year ending 31 March, the company reported that the rate of decline in sales volume and value had decelerated in the last half of the year following price reductions that improved affordability.

At the time of its financial results announcement in May, Delta said an excise duty rate reduction from 45 percent to 40 percent by government as from 1 January 2015 had helped stem the rate of declining demand.-The Source

(156 VIEWS)

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Can the ZiG sustain its rally against the US dollar?

Zimbabwe’s battered currency, the Zimbabwe Gold, which was under attack until the central bank devalued…

November 10, 2024

Will Mnangagwa go against the trend in the region?

Plans by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front to push President Emmerson Mnangagwa to…

October 22, 2024

The Zimbabwe government and not saboteurs sabotaging ZiG

The Zimbabwe government’s insatiable demand for money to satisfy its own needs, which has exceeded…

October 20, 2024

The Zimbabwe Gold will regain its value if the government does this…

Economist Eddie Cross says the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) will regain its value if the government…

October 16, 2024

Is Harare the least democratic province in Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, which is a metropolitan province, is the least democratic province in the…

October 11, 2024

Zimbabweans against extension of presidential term in office

Nearly 80% of Zimbabweans are against the extension of the president’s term in office, according…

October 11, 2024