WINDHOEK- Business owners have taken issue with the short supply of Coca-Cola soft drinks in recent weeks, prompted by a production disruption experienced at Namibia Beverages – the country’s bottler of the famous American drink.
Coca-Cola beverage is in high demand particularly at depots around Katutura and Khomasdal where most shebeen owners get their stock to manage the demand and supply of products and services for their customers.
Some shebeen owners in the Havana and Hakanana informal settlements who refused to be named described the shortage of Coca-Cola as a serious crisis for their businesses.
They say most of their customers prefer Coca-Cola as a chaser but now are forced to use other soft drinks.
“It is terrible for us business owners. We cannot get Coca-Cola since last week. The depots are empty because Namibia Beverages cannot supply enough stock. Our customers can’t find the products, so they end up drinking other drinks such as Sprite or Fanta which they normally don’t use when they mix their alcohol,” one businessman bemoaned.
It has also become a yearly occurrence that the Coca-Cola beverage is in high demand during the festive season.
Contacted for comment, Namibia Beverages Managing Director Frik Oosthuizen yesterday admitted that there is a shortage of Coca-Cola not just around Windhoek but the country at large. He said the shortage is mainly experienced due to Namibia Beverages upgrading its production line to supply more stock.
“Yes, we experienced problems with the supply of our products in the country which is almost solved. During this period of upgrade, lasting almost five weeks, supply was severely affected with significant shortages to the trade,” he noted.
He however said since Friday the line has come back in full production and supply should return to normal within the next few days.
He also attributed the shortages to some categories involved in the supply of plastic and glass bottles both in Windhoek and Oshakati.
“We just completed the installation of a new state of the art production line to the value of N$300 million. As with all new production lines, it takes time to get machines to full speed. Supply of these products is therefore in the process of being normalized,” the MD said.
He said the Oshakati production line producing glass bottles has just been upgraded for improved supply during the Christmas season. Further, he explained that the production line for glass bottles supply in Windhoek and the rest of the country was out of service for a week due to annual maintenance, adding that the operation of this production line would be back to normal this week.
“We apologize for the interruption of supply to all our customers and consumers and are glad to announce that supply is returning back to normal at present,” he said.