FEARS OF DRINK SHORTAGES AS XMAS APPROACHES

As the festive season approaches, the production of both beer and soft drinks in Maputo faces serious problems due to restrictions in water and electricity supplies.Unless the problems are solved quickly, there might not be enough beer and soft drinks on the Maputo market to meet demand over the Xmas and New Year period.The Mozambican branch of the Coca Cola company is suffering from electricity restrictions, a situation that is exacerbated by the fact that the company’s generator has broken down. There are indications that the company is acquiring a new generator, which should arrive in the country by 26 December, too late to deal with the Xmas demand.Meanwhile, the sole brewery in Maputo, owned by CDM (Beers of Mozambique), the local subsidiary of the giant international brewer SAB-Miller, is facing problems in water supply, an essential raw material for beer production.CDM produces the Mozambican brands 2M, Laurentina, Raiz, and Manica, plus a variety of other beers, including Carling Black Label, Castle Milk Stout, Peroni, Nastro Azzurro, Castle Lager, Barons and Redd's.According to the National Director of Trade, Calado Silva, the Government has contacted the water and electricity services “and we have found alternatives to mitigate the situation and ensure that the two factories continue to produce so that there will be enough products for the festive season”.Silva played down fears of an impending shortage, and declared that there was no need to panic. He noted that fears of a drink shortage always surface in December.For soft drinks, there are alternatives, since Coca-Cola’s main rival, Pepsi-Cola, also has a factory in Maputo. But CDM made sure that it has a complete monopoly on beer production, by taking over the company producing the Laurentina brand in 2002. It then closed down the Laurentina brewery, and centralized all Maputo brewing at its 2M brewery in the city of Matola.At the annual private sector conference held last month, private businesses had warned that frequent power cuts and high water costs are affecting production and productivity, leading to serious losses.