Dairibord could be changing hands. Three shareholders — Mega Market, Equivest and Mutare Mart & Exchange — now control more than 51% of Dairibord and have disclosed they are negotiating the sale of a controlling block. Mega Market, led by Mutare businessman Shiraan Ahmed, has steadily built its stake since buying 10% in 2018 and now owns more than 27%.
If the mystery buyer negotiating with controlling shareholders turns out to be Varun Beverages, as rumoured, it could reshape Zimbabwe’s consumer goods industry.
For Varun, Dairibord would be the missing piece in its push beyond soft drinks, creating a diversified consumer goods group to rival Delta and Innscor. Varun is already investing US$20 million in a juice and dairy blend plant in Harare, bought South Africa’s Crickley Dairy this year to expand into value-added dairy, has started producing Cheetos in Zimbabwe and signed an agreement with Carlsberg that could lead to local beer production.
With Dairibord, Varun wouldn’t need to build a dairy business from scratch. It would take over established brands such as Steri, Chimombe, Pfuko Maheu, Cascade and Lyons, together with processing plants, a nationwide cold-chain network and a business that buys about 35% of Zimbabwe’s milk.
The combined company would sell soft drinks, bottled water, juices, dairy products, yoghurt, maheu, snacks and potentially beer, making it one of Zimbabwe’s broadest FMCG businesses.
The timing makes sense. Varun’s Zimbabwe revenue has grown from about US$200,000 in 2015 to almost US$200 million, but growth is slowing, according to a recent analysis by Tinashe Mukogo of Money & Moves. Varun’s revenue fell 5.2% last year while margins dropped from 13.5% to 8%, even as Delta grew sparkling beverage volumes by about 15%.
Taking over Dairibord would reduce Varun’s reliance on fizzy drinks by giving it strong positions in milk, yoghurt, maheu and dairy beverages. If Carlsberg production follows, Varun would also challenge Delta in beer, its most profitable business.
Dairibord also brings a growing business. Revenue rose 8% to US$137.4 million in 2025 as sales volumes increased 12%. It invested US$11.8 million in new capacity, and first-quarter 2026 sales volumes jumped 26%, driven by growth in Steri Milk, beverages and yoghurt. While rising utility and production costs remain a challenge, they are the type of operational issues a larger regional group could address through investment and scale.
Dairibord itself has been open to new partners. It negotiated a deal with Dendairy, which failed after long talks. Dendairy itself has since been bought by ETG-Parrogate, the company that owns the ZimGold brands. This would mean the country’s two biggest dairy processors would both be owned by international consumer goods groups. The consolidation the industry never achieved on its own would have come from outside.
Competition would intensify across the sector. Delta would face a stronger challenger across multiple beverage categories, while Innscor would have another diversified FMCG player competing for supermarket shelf space, especially on drinks and snacks.
