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Innscor launches brewery to produce Nyathi beer
BY TONDERAI MARUKE
After spending US$70 million on new investments last year, Innscor is spending a further US$56 million for the coming year on new projects.
One of these projects may make Delta Corporation sit up.
It is already the country’s largest and most successful food producer, with profitable interests from poultry to maize meal and beverages.
Now Innscor is looking to add another unit – beer. Company executives told an analysts’ briefing recently that Innscor expects to launch a brewery, Buffalo Brewing Company, early in 2023. It will launch a beer brand, called Nyathi.
The first bottles of Nyathi beer have already rolled off the new line at ProBottlers in Harare. The Buffalo brewery will be in Stapleford, near Harare, where the company has repurposed a factory shell.
Can Innscor take on Delta, which has the Zimbabwe beer market in a chokehold? Delta controls 86% of the traditional beer market and 95% of lager sales.
In the year to March 2022, Delta sold 372 million litres of traditional beer, the highest amount in five years. So strong is the demand that Delta is investing in extra capacity.
“Chibuku Super is constrained by the limited production capacity. A new Chibuku Super plant is being installed at Harare brewery for commissioning in early 2023,” according to Delta.
Delta has also introduced a new Chibuku variant, Chibuku Scud Plus, which has a longer shelf-life, and jazzed things up with a banana-flavoured Chibuku Super.
In terms of lagers, in 2021, Delta sold 190 million litres, the most since 2019. It has launched new beer brands, such as Sable, and loyalty to its brands remains strong.
A new competitor in the clear beer business would have to work overtime to break this stranglehold.
Rumours of a potential future partnership with Heineken abound, which would be a twist given that Heineken recently bought Distell, which owns Afdis, a Delta associate.
Delta has already shown how aggressive it can be in fending off competition. It has fought off competition in the fizzy drinks market from Varun, which makes Pepsi, and Innscor itself, which produces the Fizzi brands.
Key for Innscor is the strategy that has made it a success for years; using its value chains and expansive distribution networks. Pricing and product quality will also be essential for market penetration.
To take on Delta in the traditional brew business, Innscor may have to step up its investments in cropping to increase sorghum supplies, possibly through its farming unit PHI Commodities, which has three farms and is expanding.
Delta gets its supplies of barley and sorghum by contracting thousands of local farmers. In 2021, it bought 40,000 tonnes of barley from 47 contracted farmers.
Delta also took in 13,500 tonnes of sorghum, grown by 10,000 communal farmers and 50 commercial farmers.
Innscor’s entry into the beer market will interest investors as it will diversify its products even further, according to stockbrokers IH Securities.
“US$56mn in additional investment into capacity has been planned for FY23 with the announced launch of the Sorghum beer line from Buffalo Brewing company going into deepening product offering,” IH says.
Analyst Yona Banda adds that Innscor’s entry into the brewery business will bring some competition into the market.
He says: “The Buffalo Brewing Company stands out as an interesting proposition, given the absence of competition in the local commercial beer market”. – newZwire
BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
For Obert Dube, a renowned African poet, the stage is no longer just a place for performance; it has become a platform for a massive humanitarian effort aimed at Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable children. Since November, Dube has traversed the rugged terrains of Matabeleland North and South, visiting over 100 schools to provide essential supplies to students who, much like his younger self, are struggling to stay in the classroom.
Obert Dube
Dube, who describes himself as an “African poet… born and bred in Zimbabwe,” has dedicated his career to what he calls a “mission of mercy.” His work focuses on children who are often forced to drop out due to a lack of school fees or basic stationery. “I’m an African poet… a philanthropist engaged in a special mission,” Dube said in a recent interview. “I help vulnerable children… who sometimes fail due to school fees. Some approach me for help with registering for examinations.”
The poet’s motivation is deeply rooted in his own childhood trauma. Raised by a widowed mother who passed away before his final exams, Dube became a “child parent” at a young age. He recalls the humiliation of attending school in borrowed uniforms and the struggle of trying to learn without the most basic tools. “I remember some raised by elderly grandparents… their parents are passed on,” Dube explained, noting that many guardians cannot afford books. “They will spend the rest of the time at school without writing, and that is what is contributing to low pass rates.”
To fund this initiative, Dube allocates 30 percent of his earnings from every performance to purchase stationery and pay school fees. His reach has expanded to districts including Nkayi, Binga, Lupane, and Hwange. While he started alone, his social media presence has attracted global support, including a Zimbabwean-born UK citizen who recently donated football kits for the schools. “This is a different thing collectively that builds helping our own communities,” Dube said.
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