Chronicle Editor
Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
THE Bulawayo Municipal Commercial Undertaking-owned Ingwebu Breweries last year recorded a year-to-date profit of US$942 000.
This was revealed in the fourth quarter 2022 report by the Ingwebu board chairperson, Mr Thandaza Masiye-Moyo, where the city lawyer revealed that despite the drop in sales, the brewery recorded a year-to-date profit and remained viable. He revealed that last year the brewery managed to sell 38,1 million litres of opaque beer compared to 40,88 million litres the previous year.
“The organisation managed to sell 11,01m litres for the quarter under review compared to the previous period volumes of 9,69m and budgeted volumes of 15,39m litres,” reads part of the report.
Mr Masiye-Moyo revealed that the organisation managed to re-introduce the Shake-It product after a long period of time and the product was highly received by the market hence giving the company a competitive advantage.
“The failure to service the market with the Mahewu product despite the high demand for the product was a result of the unavailability of the imported packaging materials. The packaging raw materials are currently sourced from outside the country and are pricey hence lower profit margins for the product. The organisation managed to sell 15 437 cases for the quarter under review against previous quarter volumes of 58 431 cases and budget of 62 255 cases. The year-to-date volumes stood at 60 569 cases against the previous year’s volumes of 155 856 cases and budgeted volumes of 162 415 cases.
“Going forward the organisation will continue looking for cheaper alternative packaging materials,” reads the report.
Financially, the brewery managed a profit of US$319 040 for the final quarter of 2022 against a budget of US$340 284.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter