Government says investigating shortages of soft drinks

Dar es Salaam. The government is investigating the shortage of soft drinks which has hit parts of  Tanzania. Sources associate the shortages with the challenge of industrial sugar importation, but an official with SBC Tanzania - producers of ‘Pepsi’ and ‘Mirinda’ beverages - said there was no sugar scarcity, but demand soared during the festive season.
A random survey by The Citizen reporter showed that, during the period of Christmas and New Year, ‘Pespi’ and ‘Coke’ were not available in retail shops in parts of Dar es Salaam.
A source who did not want to be mentioned said the shortage of soft drinks could have been caused by the scarcity of industrial sugar.
The Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade, Exud Kigahe, told The Citizen that the government was aware of the shortage of soft drinks, but was not sure of the cause(s).
“It is true that a shortage of soft drinks started towards the end of December last year. We are currently trying to establish whether soft drink producers are causing artificial scarcity to create demand and increase their prices or not,” he said.
According to him, the Fair Competition Commission (FCC) was also trying to establish if production has decreased, or consumer demand has gone up.
A soft drinks seller at Ubungo in the city said that, for the past three weeks, several suppliers from different companies have not been  delivering the beverages, thus causing their prices to rise from Sh500 to Sh600 a bottle in some areas.
“Even when you go to different retail shops, the situation is almost the same. Beverages like Pepsi and Coca-Cola are not available. When we ask the suppliers, they don’t  us give us any reason,” said one retailer who introduced herself as ‘Beatrice.’
Some outlets that had no stocks of the beverages are located in the Mbezi Beach, Africana, Tegeta and Ubungo areas of the Dar es Salaam City.
The SBC Tanzania Limited  head of Corporate Affairs, Mr Foti Gwebe-Nyirenda, said that shortage of the two popular beverages was not caused by shortages of supplies, but by increased consumer demand.
“There is no scarcity of industrial sugar. It is just that the consumption demand of such soft drinks  is higher than it was expected. As you can see, there is a rise in temperatures - and, in recent months, a lot of people have been taking a lot of drinks,” he said.
Explaining the efforts that are being taken to meet the rising consumer demand, Mr Gwebe-Nyirenda said his company was working hard to ensure that it increases supplies of the beverages to as many customers as possible.
However, he declined to mention the company’s daily production capacity, saying it was against his company’s procedures.
Bakhresa Group’s public relations officer, Mr Hussein Ally, stressed that it was possible that some industries were experiencing shortages of industrial sugar; but his company has yet to experience such a problem.
According to him, their production capacity was normal, stressing that nothing much has changed.
“Normally, every industry has its own way of operating, and its own time to import such products. Therefore, companies might have failed to purchase the products on time - which could have then contributed to the shortage. But it is  better that you contact them to hear from the horse’s mouth,” he said.