adminNgoni Dapira Business Correspondent
BEVERAGEs firm Mutare Bottling Company this week unveiled new vending equipment valued at $111 000, expected to benefit 160 new Coca-Cola vendors in Manicaland. The investment will grow the company’s presence in the informal sector from the current 333 vendors to 493 in the province.
MBC managing director Mr Allen Lang said the vending equipment donation was part of the company’s initiative to support Government’s empowerment drive in the informal sector.
Mr Lang said the informal sector was currently a key component for the growth of the economy.
The equipment donation will also benefit 40 fixed-term contract MBC employees that were laid off early this year when the company commissioned a new $17 million automated bottling plant to boost productivity.
Mr Lang said purchasing the state-of-the-art automated bottling plant that is expected to boost production by as much as 400 percent was a strategic business move to stay afloat and become low-cost producers.
“To stay afloat in this business we have to be low-cost producers which is why we purchased our new highly productive machinery and were forced to lay off the 40 fixed-term contract workers
“The investment was part of our recapitalisation programme to become more competitive,” he said.
Mr Lang said the company, however, made a commitment to put resources to marketing and distribution and create jobs downstream, which is why it bought the vending equipment.
MBC would assist its vendors in the registration and work in conjunction with the local authorities for viable designated vending areas.
“As MBC we will do what we can to support you as Coca-Cola vendors in the licensing process through council authorities in various districts.
We will also train them through our informal sector business development programme, which has in past years assisted many of our vendors on business ethics and knowledge,” said the MBC managing director.
Mutare Town Clerk Mr Obert Muzawazi said the empowerment of Small to Medium Enterprise players was key to employment creation.
He said the initiative by MBC to empower its laid off employees was a proactive move which all companies should take leaf from.
The Town Clerk said Mutare City Council would assist by creating more vending designated areas in view of the fact that vending had become a source of livelihood for most urban families.
“Vending has become a source of livelihood for many families not only in Manicaland but countrywide. As Government authorities we applaud this investment as it goes a long way in ensuring that the beneficiaries will be able not only to bring food to the table but also to send their children to school. The investment is testimony of the confidence the company has in people and economic prospects of our country going forward,” said the town clerk.
The chairman of the Mutare Bottling Company Vendors’ Association, Mr Thomas Mureyani, said on average a Coca-Cola vendor can make $7 profit a day getting $2,40 profit per crate.
He asked local authorities to review the vending licence from the $6 per week to $3 a week.
“Vending is small profit business, so for local authorities to demand $1 per day on top of the monies we pay for transport and storage charges daily, it becomes weighty. We strongly plead with council to hear us there and reduce the vending fees,” said Mr Mureyani.
MBC, which holds the Coca-Cola franchise for the Manicaland region, is 63 percent owned by telecommunications giant Econet Wireless Zimbabwe.
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