BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

Listed wines and spirits maker, African Distillers (Afdis), aims to remain profitable and deliver value to all shareholders in the short, medium and long term, despite the harsh economic environment obtaining in the country.

Afdis managing director Cecil Gombera told NewsDay Business that even though things were tough in the country, they will continue to make profit.

“We remain optimistic that we will be able to continue to supply the market with most of our brands. There will always be a market for quality alcoholic beverages such as ours and, therefore, we will endeavour to maintain presence in all our product categories,” Gombera said.

“We aim to remain profitable and deliver value to all shareholders in the short, medium and long term. Our new product development efforts will always remain active as we respond to market needs. Product innovation will play a key role as we seek to enhance our market share,” he said.

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On 2019, Gombera added: “Volumes have declined as consumer real disposable incomes remained under immense pressure. Access to foreign currency remains a major constraint.”

Afdis recorded a volume drop of 10% for the third quarter and nine months to December 31, 2019.

The demand for ciders and white spirits, however, remained strong.

Zimbabwe’s trading environment is characterised by high inflation and an unstable exchange rate with limited availability of foreign currency on the formal market. Consumer spending is constrained by low disposable incomes as salary and wage adjustments continue to lag the increases in prices of goods and services.