The Sunday Mail
BEER manufacturing giant Delta Beverages will commission a new Chibuku Super production plant in Bulawayo at the end May as consumption of the refined opaque brew continues to soar.
The plant, which is set to be opened in Fairbridge and will have a daily capacity of 330 000 litres, will cost Delta Beverages approximately $16 million, according to Chibuku manufacturing executive Mr Brian Karemba who addressed the media during a tour of the Chitungwiza plant today.
“There is no proper infrastructure at Fairbridge, so it is like we are starting afresh unlike the case with the Chitungwiza plant when we commissioned it.
“The final cost of the plant will land at around $16 million for the production unit that will be the first of its kind in Bulawayo. Previously there was no manufacturing of Chibuku Super and we are happy with this development,” said Mr. Karemba.
The new Bulawayo plant will produce about 55 percent of the total that is packaged daily at the Chitungwiza plant, which, at full throttle, produces 600 000 litres of Chibuku Super.
An $11 million highly automated plant at Chitungwiza has seen production of the on demand beer rise from 150 000 litres in April last year to the current capacity of 600 000 litres.
Prior to April last year, Delta Beverages had invested $6 million for the plant that produced 150 000 litres per day.
The rise in demand for the carbonated and refined Chibuku Super has resulted in a sharp decline in the consumption of the Scud product which dominated Delta Beverages’ opaque brands.
Meanwhile, 52-year-old Kwekwe based Chibuku Super drinker Nicodmus Gwafa was handed an $80 000 Toyota Quantum after winning last year’s Chibuku Super Cup competition that ran concurrently with the 16-team Premier Soccer League tournament that was won by FC Platinum.
