Cheers for Ingwebu

Business
BULAWAYO City Council undertaking Ingwebu Breweries has recorded a strong performance for the year ended 2012 with beer volume growth of 16%

BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) undertaking Ingwebu Breweries has recorded a strong performance for the year ended 2012 with traditional beer volume growth of 16% despite fierce competition in the cut-throat beer industry.

Njabulo Ncube Deputy Editor

In a preliminary report in Ingwebu Breweries’ financial results released yesterday, town clerk Middleton Nyoni said the brewery registered a year of strong financial results, adding that the future looked bright for the entity.

Nyoni said Ingwebu’s continued turnaround strategy was beginning to bear fruits. He said once the turnaround strategy was completed, the Bulawayo Municipal Commercial Undertaking would be a significantly different business delivering value to stakeholders.

“Indications are that Ingwebu had a strong performance for the year ended 2012. Ingwebu’s presence in key markets enabled it to see opportunities that it was able to take advantage of in order to deliver value to stakeholders,” Nyoni said.

“Sorghum beer consumption is realised through a social context and as such closeness to its consumers and understanding of their demands were considered key to Ingwebu’s success in the year 2012.”

He revealed that Ingwebu Breweries registered traditional beer volume growth through its traditional and newly-established franchise channels.

Nyoni said this growth in volumes was supported by a continuous product availability and consistency in the product quality. Through the effective operating processes that saw it franchise some of its retail outlets and intensified sales execution, Ingwebu Breweries drove strong performance from all its channels.

“Whereas financial performance for the year was below our expectation, Calabash and Shake It had a strong volume showing. This is despite a number of capacity constraints in the production process. Draught beer showed signs of slowing down,” he added.

Analysts note that Ingwebu’s traditional beer faces tough competition from a wide range of products from Delta Beverages which produces its own brand of traditional beer under the Chibuku label.