South Africa: Unusual demand for beer is responsible for shortages

South African Breweries (SAB) says in the quarter to June, volume sales grew 4% and now unusual demand is partly responsible for intermittent shortages, Business Day reported September 21. SA is not known as a high beer per capita country, consuming 55l a person a year. The Czechs, however, down about 160l a year, and the Germans about 125l.

Locally, warmer weather and sporting events may well have contributed to the increase in demand. There has also been the suggestion that drinkers are moving from wine to beer.

Then there is also the absence of rival Amstel during SAB's first quarter, as cans re-entered SA only in July. Bottles, by far the bulk of sales, should be back by the end of the month.

So, did Amstel's absence from SAB's portfolio harm or aid it? The jury is still out, but one market commentator points out that the only premium beers on shelves that were not from SAB from March to June were Heineken and Windhoek.

So, either SAB benefited anyway and its next set of numbers will not show such huge volume growth, or Amstel drinkers all drank either Heineken or Windhoek and the net volume gain is actually higher.

Either way, more beer is being drunk by South Africans, which means that if Brandhouse, a joint venture between Diageo, Heineken and Namibia Breweries, really wants to reap rewards, Heineken had best get on with building that brewery.

21 September, 2007