All data are collected in the Fiscal Year of 2008-2009.

Swaziland / Food, Beverages, Tobacco

Swaziland Breweries was established in Matsapha as a 100%-owned subsidiary of South African Breweries (SAB) in 1969. Ngwane Breweries, a traditional opaque beer brewery, was established in Manzini in 1981 and Swaziland Bottlers was formed to bottle and distribute Coca-Cola products in 1984. In 1995 all three business units were merged to form Swaziland Beverages Limited (SBL), all operating at the same site in Matsapha.

King Sobhuza the Second Avenue, Matsapha Industrial Site, Matsapha, Swaziland;
Telephone: +268 518 6033
Telefax: +268 518 6309

Castle Milk Stout, Ohlsson's, Castle Light, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Miller Genuine Draft, Hansa Marzen Gold, Redd’s, Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, Fanta, Sprite, Twist and Appletiser

300 people

Number of breweries: 1; Number of CSD plants: 1; Number of sorghum breweries: 1; Brewing capacity (hl 000): 600 CSD capacity (hl 000): 400 Total size of beer market (hl 000); 204

“Strive to be the most admired company in Swaziland, not just by financial performance, but by developing a sustainable business model”

“Our business has established a clear strategic focus founded on four key priorities: to create a balanced and attractive global spread of businesses; to create a portfolio of brands that matches the aspirations and preferences of consumers within each market; to keep raising the performance of local operations; and to gain maximum value from our global scale.

Our approach to sustainable development complements this overarching business strategy. The global nature of our business allows us to take what we have learned in one market and share it in another, whether it is transferring our African experience in tackling HIV/Aids to India and Russia or applying our model for developing entrepreneurs in Latin America. Through further cross-company training, engagement with the operations and better software tools, we continue to improve the collaboration and sharing between our operations in different parts of the world.

Our geographical spread of operations enables us to capture growth in total volumes in the developing markets, and value growth as consumers around the world trade upwards from economy to mainstream and from mainstream to premium brands. Our acquisitions in recent years have given us a wide geographical spread with good exposure to emerging markets without being over-reliant on any single region. This allows us to capture new growth in developing markets and value growth as consumers around the world trade up from economy to mainstream and premium brands.

While geographical expansion remains part of our strategy, we also look to identify and exploit opportunities for growth within our existing business portfolio. This can involve a range of activities, from entering into local joint ventures or partnerships, to buying or building breweries, to acquiring local brands to help shape a full, local, brand portfolio.

Our aim is to develop an attractive brand portfolio that meets consumers’ needs in each of our markets. In many markets, because the growth is fastest at the top end, we’ve been focusing on our local premium brands, such as Cusqueña Peru. Premiumisation is evident in many of our markets as consumers move up the scale from economy to mainstream and to premium beers in search of brands that offer prestige and differentiation. In many markets, growth is fastest at the top end, as shown by the increasing popularity of our international premium brands such as Peroni Nastro Azzurro and regional brands such as Kozel in Europe.

Another rising consumer trend is the shift towards fragmentation. Affluent consumers are varying their choices and becoming more interested in speciality brands, craft beers, foreign imports and other sub-divisions of the premium segment. And a third trend is the growing importance of female consumers.
To address these demands, our strategy is to identify individual market dynamics and create the right mix of brands to capture opportunities and allow each brand to add value through its own distinct positioning.

Good operational performance has always been a SABMiller strength. While operational standards are already high we are continually striving to push them higher, as evidenced by growing EBITA on an organic, constant currency basis. EBITA margin was impacted by rising input costs which exceeded group revenue growth and cost efficiencies.

In order to raise our performance, we need to become more efficient, especially in our manufacturing processes. Efficiency is part of our day-to-day management and the rise in commodity costs compels us to do whatever we can to counteract the squeeze on our margins. All SABMiller operations strive to improve our products’ route to market, to remove costs and to ensure that the right products reach the right outlets in the right condition. To raise local performance, we’re responding to the consolidation of the retail sector by forming mutually beneficial partnerships with major retailers.

We are leveraging our global scale to grow the business. Our business platform enables us, for example, to distribute our international premium brands and build our regional brands. In addition we are using our scale to transfer skills, methods and our operational performance and efficiency. As a global organisation we’re constantly seeking to use the benefits of our scale while recognising that beer is essentially a local business and that local managers are in the best position to identify and exploit local opportunities. Our aim is to generate maximum value and advantage from our size without becoming over-centralised and losing our relevance and responsiveness in each market. “

SBL focuses on brand and pack renovation; continue to push gains from operational and production excellence; increase organisational capability development; and broaden portfolio towards affordable and worth-more offerings.

Effective interest in ordinary share capital: 37%

SAB makes a significant contribution to the fiscus through VAT, excise and income taxes.

In 2009 Swaziland Beverages embarked on an extensive drive to interact with its retail customers and ensure the proper positioning of its brands country wide. The “Merchandising” exercise involves all staff visiting all the outlets that sell their soft drink brands to see if the beverages are properly displayed. The teams are involved in cleaning up the refrigerators, sorting the product and branding the place.