DRINKS SHORTAGE WORSENS

The country’s largest beverages company, Delta Corporation Limited, has attributed the beverage shortages being experienced in the country to shortages in foreign currency.
Among the products that are in short supply are fizzy drinks, maheu, as well as some of the beer brands usually found on the Zimbabwe market.

A survey by the Daily News on Sunday showed that some shops were not even getting supplies of the beverages, while fears are that the shortages are spreading to other products.

Zimbabwe has been struggling with the supply of among other things; cooking oil, eggs, bread as well as fuel.

Delta corporate affairs executive Patricia Murambinda told a local daily that the company was having difficulties in securing enough foreign currency to ensure that they operate at full capacity.

“As reported in our previous trading updates, Delta relies on a number of critical imported raw materials. The limited availability of foreign currency has particularly affected soft drinks and maheu. We have not been able to source enough foreign currency for these imports as foreign currency is currently scarce in the nation,” Murambinda said.

She, however, said the disruptions in supply may continue depending on the availability of foreign currency.

“Products supply may continue to be disrupted by low foreign currency availability and we always keep our customers informed at all times on the product lines which will be available.

“Our maheu factory is currently running lower than capacity, with significant shortages of product on the market due to a shortage of packaging material,” she said.

Zimbabwe is currently experiencing an economic meltdown and a growing foreign exchange black market, with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe failing to implement lasting solutions to the problem.

The central bank recently revealed that it had stopped allocating United States dollars to banks for withdrawal by individuals, as a measure to curb black market foreign currency dealings. Daily News

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