Alcohol levy: Consumers desert local brews for imports

29 November, 2010 in Botswana, Business

source: Mmegi
BRIAN BENZA
Staff writer

Sechaba Brewery Holding’s dwindling sales volumes of alcohol beverages is not a reflection of lower intake of alcohol in Botswana as consumers have migrated to less expensive imports than home brews, managing director Hloni Matshela has said.

Briefing the media on the company’s interim results for the half-year ended 30 September 2010, Matshela said that due to the unfair implementation of the alcohol levy which has made imports more affordable than locally-produced alcoholic beverages, their market share and profits continues to slide while the expected increment in the alcohol levy will see more consumers desert KBL and BBL beverages but not necessarily stop alcohol consumption. “I believe for the alcohol levy to serve its intended purpose, it must affect all the sellers in the same way. For some time now, we have been engaging the government to make them understand that the implementation of the levy gives an unfair advantage to [continue reading]

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