Delta says its commanding share of the masese beer market has slipped marginally over the past year, feeling the impact of lower disposable incomes and competition.
In March last year, Delta estimated that Chibuku had 92% of the opaque beer market. It is still dominant, but slightly down to 87%.
In the six months to September, Delta sold 3% less masese in Zimbabwe. this, the company says, is because drinkers have less money to buy its beer due to the impact of the drought. Drinkers are also turning to cheaper imported spirits, while the emergence of Innscor’s Nyathi beer is also taking a swig at sales.
Says Delta: “The sorghum beer category is most vulnerable to the impact of the drought due to reduced disposable incomes in rural markets and cost pressures on key cereals such as maize and sorghum. In addition there were significant disruptions arising from the route to market policies and the inconsistent account management practices by retail and wholesale partners.”
The sector has “become more competitive and is under pressure from other alcohol categories such as hard spirits and lager beer”, Delta says, adding that the “category has attracted new players”.
Innscor launched Nyathi in December 2022, and the company says it is seeing “increasing market acceptance of the product as well as a consistent, and pleasing, improvement in overall plant capacity utilisation”.
To penetrate the market and win over customers, Nyathi last year recruited groups of drinkers, called “tasters”, with the aim of having them tasting the beer and win them and other drinkers over. Buffalo is reaching up to 7,000 of these drinkers each month. Innscor is also relying on its distribution to send out vans to “key consumption points”. Delta, on the other hand, is looking to entrench brand loyalty through public activities such as sports, arts, and cultural events “which build brand loyalty”.
Delta still has the advantage of scale; its vastly bigger plant means it can produce more than Innscor for now. A new Chibuku Super plant helped beer sales reach record levels earlier this year. CEO Matlhogonolo Valela noted previously that Innscor’s capacity was around 30,000 hectolitres per month, compared to Delta’s 400,000 hectolitres per month.
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