Schweppes Holdings Africa Limited, represented by Unaiswi Nleya Nyikadzino, the company’s Commercial and Public Affairs Director spoke about the experiences they are facing during exporting at the ZimTrade’s Exporters’ Conference 2021 held today at Golden Conifer in Harare to inform interested stakeholders at the conference.
Speaking at the conference as one of the panelists, Unaiswi who is in the juicing division mentioned that COVID-19 was a blessing and a curse for the company and they had done well despite the experiences the company faced. She went on to mention the good news, the blessing.
“So we’ve seen some improved price competitiveness of our products. I think it has been a challenge many of us who are trading in Zimbabwe have had where we are coming from a U.S Dollar base and a lot of the times our products are not as competitive especially in the region because of our high cost base
She attributed this to the use of the USD which is a strong currency which helped Schweppes increase trade within the region. The company benefited from the supply chain disruption as it filled in the gap caused, hence, improving their margins. This was the most important upside the liquid food and beverage company experienced she said.
Another advantage the company had, was improved price sensitivity from a consumer and nutrition perspective. As their products are citrus based, it gave them increased business as consumers preferred citrus based foods because of their vitamin C content to boost the immune system.
There was also a boost in business due to positive response from the region from businesses, mainly in South Africa which is the main manufacturing hub in sub-Saharan Africa. There was an increase in appetite for collaboration between the two, the South African market and Schweppes for long term partnerships.
The downside of COVID-19 in 2020 meant shipment delays regarding imports of raw materials used by the beverage company. She mentioned that the challenge was there but was not significant. The level of uncertainty of how the presence of COVID-19 would affect business hampered production. Manufacturing slowed down activity due to employees’ fear for their health. Also, deliveries from producers became slow.
There was also sample delivery delays as their products were not a top priority. These delays meant delay in trade as consumers would need samples before making a purchase of goods. There was also an increase of shipping costs for example to Spain and Israel as their goods would sit at ports for longer which translated to increase in costs for storage.
These are just some of the positive and negative impacts of COVID-19 experienced by Schweppes, however, in 2021 there has been improvement as there is now adaptation of the situation.
Schweppes Holdings Africa Limited is a leading manufacturer and distributer of liquid food and beverages. Currently its foot print extends across the Southern Africa Region. The business has been built over many decades through mergers and acquisition, organic growth and exports.
