Botswana Beverage Association (BOBA) has dispelled any possible shortage of alcohol products in the country during festive season.
This comes after South Africa’s alcohol industry warned of possible supply shortages in December, with the industry still grappling with the effects of multiple lockdown-related sales bans.
BOBA President Peter Noke said alcohol supply chains have stockpiled to allow them to satisfy the market throughout the year.
Noke said he has consulted all the alcohol distributors and they are hoping that the situation will not change at least until next year.
“I have spoken to distributors and they have no issues regarding distribution, in fact they have stockpiled and there is a general feeling that what they currently have will last them until next year,”
“Distell company for instance uses CA sales to supply them and their warehouses are filled with alcohol, we also have Kgalagadi Breweries limited (KBL) which produce their own product,” said Noke.
Noke said should the situation intensify next year distributors will seek to source products from Namibia.
“There are some big manufacturing companies in Namibia where our local distributors can easily source their products,”
“We all know that the demand for alcohol normally goes up during festive season and we can assure customers that even though there is enough in warehouses, we will not rest our laurels but rather we will engage other foreign manufacturers to ensure that there is an uninterrupted supply,” added Noke.
He stated that they are also engaging their counterparts in South Africa to see how long the situation will last.
“Obviously we are engaging our suppliers in South Africa to find out whether there is any effort to restore the situation because the last thing we want is whereby the supply is affected even though Namibia is a backup,” said Noke.
According to media reports in South Africa, Savanna maker Distell said it is still feeling the impact of the various alcohol bans, compounded by global supply chain shortages and shipment delays linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, Distell spokesperson Frank Ford said the company is working on ensuring that there will be enough supply. “It’s not going to be dry,” he said.
Glassmaker, Consol, said that there is a glass shortage impacting all categories, and it came as a direct result of the various lockdowns and alcohol bans last year.
