E-Malt.com News article: Zimbabwe: Beer sales up amid ongoing economic woes

Sales of beer have surged by 50 per cent in Zimbabwe over the past year amid the misery of daily power and water outages and ongoing economic woes, The Canadian Press reported on September, 9.

Health authorities also are reporting increases in illnesses linked to the consumption of illegal, homemade drinks with a high alcohol content made from potatoes, rags, chemicals, rotting vegetables and sugar.

Zimbabwe's market was liberalized after the country's coalition government abandoned the local currency in early 2009 and adopted the U.S. dollar, improving the world-record inflation that had decimated Zimbabwe's economy.

Before that, store shelves were bare of basic goods, and acute beer and liquor shortages even shut down some bars.

Economist John Robertson said the reappearance of ample alcohol supplies meant the country's biggest formal brewer and soft drinks maker, Zimbabwe's Delta Corp., was recapturing its market. The company reported a beer sale increase of 50 per cent in its latest annual report.

While Zimbabwe no longer suffers from world-record inflation, the economic misery continues for many and the Red Cross estimated earlier this year that as many as one-fourth of the country's population is in need of food aid.

Financial consultants Imara Asset Management Zimbabwe note that Zimbabweans are spending more on drinks than their northern neighbours in Zambia, a far more stable and economically strong country.

Despite Zimbabwe's economic meltdown, residents there spent $324 million on drinks in the same yearlong period that Zambians spent $230 million. The two countries have roughly the same size population — around 12 million.


10 September, 2010