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Taurai Masamba
Herald Correspondent
Over the past few months, alarming reports have emerged showing a growing and disturbing trend — the sale of goods, including food, alcohol, drugs, toothpaste and a range of other products which are fake, underweight and expired.
This trade malpractice cuts across a range of products, from alcohol to toothpaste.
Both large and small informal retail chains, commonly referred as ‘ma-tuckshops’, have been blamed for the sudden explosion of product fraud, when companies local and abroad purposely mislead the public about products being sold.
Consumers in Zimbabwe are concerned about the magnitude of the product fraud cases and how supermarket shelves, both large and small, and open-air market stalls are too often stocked with counterfeit products.
The rise in the sale of counterfeit products has sparked a heated debate on various social media platforms, with some consumers criticising semi-formal grocery shops — ‘ma-tuckshops’ for selling expired, underweight and fake products.
Numerous factors could be driving the rise in counterfeit products in the country.
Some trade analysts say local manufacturers face increased competition from cheaper imports, which often have lower standards for African destinations.
In such cases, they may use inferior or even unregulated ingredients in their products to reduce their production costs.
Another factor is that, weak regulatory standards, systems and tracking mechanisms create loop holes in which counterfeiters can thrive.
All this drives hard-pressed consumers to throng ‘ma-tuckshops’, where the prices are cheaper than some major retail brands.
Even large retail chains too, are also knowingly or unknowingly peddling counterfeit products due to what analysts say is the increasing complexity of food systems.
Under such conditions, ingredients with long supply chains and varying levels of scrutiny and standards, make it very difficult to trace the origins of food products.
Lower prices and the sale of products strictly in US dollar currency — free of issues of change — has attracted more customers to ‘ma-tuckshops’ in downtown Harare and other parts in both urban and rural areas.
The semi-formal retailers get first preference from manufacturers and distributors ahead of supermarkets because they pay in cash, on delivery and in foreign currency. Supermarkets on the other hand, pay in local currency after 30, 60 or 90 days.
Manufacturers and peddlers of fake products are, therefore, using the tuckshops’ popularity among consumers to push fake products presented in packaging which resembles that of genuine products from local manufacturers like Schweppes Zimbabwe.
Foreign manufacturers such as the South Africa-based Reckitt Benckiser, whose brands are popular locally because the company used to have a factory in Zimbabwe until 2023, are not being spared either.
One of the affected consumers indicated that he bought vegetable seeds from some tuckshops in Harare to plant in South Africa. The rape seed germinated well, while only about five percent of the sugarloaf germinated raising questions about their quality and origin.
Other consumers have testified after buying fake imported household cleaner. Although the manufacturer of this household cleaner still maintains presence in Zimbabwe, most of their products are being imported largely from South Africa.
Another Harare customer, Sharmaine Muponda, posted that she bought a whole box of fake Domestos detergent product from the tuckshops and open vending markets.
Chiedza Mapfumo confirmed that some of the fake products were being manufactured locally while others were coming from South Africa. These include repackaged rice, washing powder, mealie meal, detergents, petroleum jelly, perfumes and cordials. Some of the local brands, which are being targeted by the fake product manufacturers, include National Foods’ Mahatma rice and Schweppes Zimbabwe’s Mazoe cordials among others.
Other foreign brands which are being passed off include Kellogg’s cereals, Two Keys whiskey, Jameson whiskey and Colgate toothpaste. Some of the fake whiskeys, most of which are imported, are being made from methylated spirits and bleach, thereby endangering consumers’ health.
It is important to note that brand counterfeiting is also a major challenge in South Africa, where most of the imported brands were manufactured. In 2019, Moneyweb.co.za, quoting Michael Lamont, a partner at Spoor & Fisher who specialises in combating counterfeiting in southern Africa, reported that counterfeit goods cost the South African economy billions of rands annually.
The conversations revealed that some of the products were being manufactured or re-packed in places such as Mbare and Gazaland, Highfield in Harare. The bootleggers use spent and new packaging. There are people making a living through supplying packaging and look-alike labels to convince consumers into believing that they are buying original products.
Bargain-hunting consumers are also being targeted by other malpractices such as underweight and expired goods. The underweight products challenge is especially prevalent in Bulawayo. Some of the sources of the goods are the manufacturers of counterfeit goods, who wish to make more money. For example, a group of people repackaging rice for sale, using packaging mimicking known household brands, would obviously pack less quantities of the product than the amount stated on the packaging to make more packs.
Online Reporter