Homegrown brands rise to challenge multinational’s stake on Tanzania’s soft beverage market

Steadily but sure of achieving growth, Tanzania is becoming one of the most vibrant soft beverage markets in East Africa. The industry is already attracting both local and international companies to join in the quest to quench the thirst of over 63.59 million Tanzanians who yearn for water, juice, energy drinks, or soda.

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2023-05-03 11:54:56

Generally, on-trade volume sales of soft drinks are very limited in Tanzania while the off-trade volume sales of soft drinks continued to see a strong recovery in 2022, with distribution continuing to expand and life returning to relative normality after the pandemic.

According to Fitch Solutions, food and non-alcoholic drinks account for the largest share of household spending in Tanzania at approximately 29.1% in 2023. Over the medium term (2022-2026), the firm forecasts a strong expansion of Tanzania’s soft drinks sector driven by robust demand for carbonated drinks.

RISE OF B-BRANDS

The soft beverage industry in Tanzania is dominated by American beverage companies Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The country seems to be among the few in Africa where Pepsi has the lead over its rival Coca-Cola.

According to a 2020 Sagaci research, 53% of Tanzanian consumers preferred taking Pepsi while just 40% had a liking for Coca-Cola products. The remaining 7% could be the ones lured by a rise of homegrown brands such as Azam and Mo Cola. These brands backed by their deep-pocked parent companies Bakhresa Group and Mohamed Enterprises Tanzania Group respectively have spiced up competition in the sector.

Courtesy of Food Business Africa– read full article here.