BEVERAGE INDUSTRY
National Distillers wants to make Angola a production centre in Africa
The spirits manufacturer intends to strengthen its industry in the country and export to neighbouring countries with whom Angola has trade agreements.
National Distillers presented a second investment project, signed in June 2017, worth 6.8 million USD, which is aimed at increasing its production capacity and making Angola the production centre for all sub-Saharan Africa.
The company believes that "the effectiveness of the penetration of products in the markets where they are sold" proves their export capacity. The spirits manufacturer therefore focused its whole production process in Angola on turning this operation into the production and distribution hub for all sub-Saharan Africa.
"The production process is now in operation and we have trained workers, experience in production, distribution, marketing, and the ability to double or even triple the production, as well as partners to start exporting immediately". It added that production and export to neighbouring countries and to countries with which Angola has trade agreements, as is the case of Brazil, is the objective for the coming years.
The idea of the company is to start manufacturing and bottling its main products, such as Best Whisky, Best Creamand Best Ginger/Tangawisi in the country.
"We want to increase our production capacity and introduce new products," says the company's general manager,Agata Russell.
For the time being, the ingredients for the production of the drinks come from South Africa and Scotland, to achieve quality products, but the whole manufacturing process is already performed locally. The company's management underlines the fact that"unfortunately" they still depend heavily on imported raw materials, although this "scenario" is already starting to change, as is thecase of sugar, which they buy locally.
"The more you can afford to buy locally, the less need the industry will have for foreign currencies. Having high infrastructure costs (energy/water) makes our prices very high, thus making it impossible to compete in other markets to which we would like to export our products" says Agata Russell, in the replies sent via email.
National Distillers clarifies that it has been managing current resources in order to overcome the obstacles of day-to-day operations, “optimising the management of raw materials, the product made available to the market and the stoppage of the factories for short periods, to balance this situation".
The project initially registered an overall income of 7.8 million USD from imports, which evidently shows that they hold more than 50% of the market share of spirits in Angola, according to Agata Russell.
In operation since 2015, the factory has created more than 400 direct jobs and indirect jobs throughout the country, with an estimated total of 13,200 jobs. With the expansion, shifts in the factory will be reinforced, which will double the number of employees.
The brand currently maintains a "special relationship" with the informal market. "It is important to mention that we require all our direct customers to have a licence, thus promoting the development of a reliable, organised and licenced commercial network that stimulates the growth of local commerce and a greater formalisation of the economy", explains the general manager.
The current beverage industry in Angola has an installed capacity of 5.4 billion litres/year. More than half of this capacity is not being used. The announcement was made by the president of the Association of Beverage Industries of Angola (AIBA), Manuel Sumbula.
Globally, beer, soft drinks, juices, water, wine and spirits are responsible for the creation of over 20,000 jobs, 95% of which are held by nationals.
Manuel Sumbula says that "the effects of the crisis" have already had a great impact and that currently there is "more openness in the dialogue with the government, which, consequently, is making our access to foreign currencies easier.
SOURCE: MERCADO | EDJAIL SANTOS
LINK:https://www.mynetpress.com/pdfan/201895124250an.pdf
