AfDIS acquires new equipment
STAFF WRITER
Listed spirit and wine maker, African Distillers (AfDIS), is now supplying the market with enough products following the acquisition of the new freezer equipment.
For over two months, AfDIS operated without the freezing facility resulting in some supply gaps in the market.
AfDIS managing director Stanley Muchenje said its personnel was using Delta facilities to reduce shortages in the market.
“We suffered a serious setback following the breakdown of the freezing facility resulting in some supply gaps in the market.
“Recently, we have acquired new equipment worth close to US$1m and since then our operations have returned to normalcy.
“We are now operating at full capacity and we no longer have supply disruptions in the market,” Muchenje said.
He said without the freezing equipment, ciders and other products will not be manufactured and stored properly.
AfDIS manufactures one million litres of ciders monthly and with the machinery breakdown capacity was significantly reduced to around 300 000 litres per month.
In a trading update ended December 31 2023, Delta company secretary Faith Musinga said machine breakdowns weighed down AfDIS performance.
“The associates businesses performed well except African Distillers which registered a sluggish performance in the quarter with volume declining by 12% compared to prior year due to an increase in grey trade on key brands and reduced uptake by the formal trade partners due to account management issues and distorted pricing.
“AfDIS product supply was adversely affected by plant breakdowns and utility supply disruptions,” she said.