The Sunday Mail
FLEDGLING local distillers are currently smarting from the emergence of cunning cash-rich individuals who are repackaging and distributing their brown and white spirits.
This not only hits the bottom lines of genuine distillers but also reduces Government tax revenues as rogue merchants remit nothing to the State.
Industry players also say some of the illegal alcohol suppliers are importing dangerous concentrates which they repackage into small and affordable bottles that bear the logos of established brands.
Pentop Marketing Limited, which distils Blue Diamond Vodka, estimates that it has lost approximately US$136 000 to such practices over the past 18 months.
The cheap counterfeits are in great demand on the lower end of the market and are sold at commuter omnibus bus termini and high-density suburbs.
Both legal and illegal crossing points are used to transport contraband, with smugglers undeterred by landmine-infested areas surrounding Nyamapanda, Forbes and Sango border posts. Most smugglers from Mozambique use the Cecil Kop Nature Reserve route which is not heavily patrolled by police.
The most common illicit spirits brought into country are Royal Gin, Red Gin, Royal Whisky and Zero Gin.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority confirmed in a recent post on its website that smugglers have become sophisticated.
It, however, said it was winning the war.
“Smugglers keep on devising new methods to try and beat the system, but recent incidents have shown that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority is up to the task and is determined to curb this underground activity.
“The continued interception of smuggled goods by the authority has boosted the confidence of policymakers as calls to thwart nefarious economic activities reach a high crescendo,” reads the post, adding there are strategies to “make smuggling a profitless enterprise”.
Pentop Marketing managing director Ms Tarryn Myburgh said a syndicate was buying bottles and labels from their suppliers and packaging their “harmful products” with their brands.
“Our supplier is selling our labels to them; he has given them 120 000 labels in the last two months. The biggest thing they are ripping us off is the 200ml bottle.
“We sell to the shopkeeper for 85 US cents and then (re)sell it for a dollar. A lot of people have a dollar to spend so they would rather get the small bottles than the larger ones.
“The labelling company told us that ‘we have been supplying these guys with your labels’, (and) we are actually filing a civil suit against them and the guys that were involved and we will see what the outcome will be.
“But the main thing that we want to emphasise on is the health hazards involved.
“They are producing industrial grade alcohol which is very hazardous to health because of chemicals they put in which are not fit for consumption.
“If they (consumers) drink a lot of it, they will die and it is our brand name that suffers, but the product is not ours. We will (still) be liable for it,” said Ms Myburgh.
She said about 40 000 labels went into circulation, with the other 22 000 being seized.
Law enforcement agents have since made arrests in Chitungwiza and Avondale in connection with the matter.
Added Ms Myburgh: “Last month we lost US$20 000 and this month it looks like it will be more. Small companies are struggling and cannot afford the lots of money required to fund taskforces (to investigate the illegal operations).
“In total, we have lost approximately US$136 000 while the Zimbabwe Government has also lost US$81 739,13 (in taxes).
“Over the last two to three months, we have been losing anything between 20 000 and 30 000 bottles a month, translating to about US$20 000 of which about US$16 000 is Government money.”
The syndicate is believed to be raking in more than US$300 000 per month, while nothing is being remitted to the tax collector.
However, listed wines and spirit maker African Distillers general manager Mr Cecil Gombera last week said its products had not yet fallen victim to such malpractices.
“It is difficult to detect the fake spirits but we have heard that they are there. It is said that the counterfeit spirits are made in homes and are sold in the high-density areas.
“The raw material used in the manufacture of spirits is called rectified spirit and it is found in Chiredzi,” said Mr Gombera.
