BMI's Executive Summary

[TOP]

The Sector At A Glance

Key Insights On The Food & Drink Sector Of Zimbabwe

After months of insisting that Zimbabwe did not need outside aid and that domestic crop harvests would be sufficient to meet the its food needs, Agriculture Minister Joseph Made finally admitted in October that the country is in desperate need of food. Previously, Made, along with President Robert Mugabe, had insisted that Zimbabwe had harvested around 1.8mn tonnes of staple maize from the 2005-2006 season, which would be enough to meet national consumption until the next harvests begins in spring 2007. However, they have now admitted that the Stalinist-style agriculture programme, under which soldiers were moved onto former white farms across the country to produce strategic crops such as maize and wheat, failed due to a shortage of fertiliser, seed and fuel.

In October, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that close to 1mn Zimbabweans could face starvation if the international community did not take immediate action and come forward with donations, asking for US$61mn to purchase emergency food aid to address the existing food gap. Growing food shortages have forced the government to admit its failure and allow non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to resume distributing food aid, after they were banned from doing so last year. An official decree circulated among provincial officials read: ‘Please be advised that despite an earlier directive barring NGOs from giving food aid to the people four months ago, it has emerged that the government has not enough food to feed its citizens.’

Before the disastrous land reforms of 2000, Zimbabwe was the region's breadbasket, and was the secondlargest economy in the region after South Africa. However, the past seven years have been nothing short of ruinous for the country, which has suffered from a complete economic meltdown characterised by shortages in food, fuel, electricity, essential medicines, hard cash and virtually every basic survival commodity. Before the seizure of white-owned commercial farms began, Zimbabwe was self-sufficient in wheat and an exporter of surplus corn, as the agriculture industry once employed an estimated 70% of the population and contributed around 20% to GDP. Now the agricultural sector has all but collapsed.

Unsurprisingly, BMI forecasts Zimbabwe's food, beverage and tobacco trade balance to grow increasingly negative over the four years to 2010, as exports are expected to drop by 27.4%. As prices for commodities and basic inputs have soared, food producers and retailers have been battling it out with the government, which has been trying to set prices for certain basic food goods, such as bread, often to no avail. With the destruction caused to the country’s agriculture and infrastructure so severe, the future looks grim for Zimbabwe’s ravaged economy.

Contents

[TOP]

Chapter 1 – Business Environment

SWOT Analysis

Zimbabwe Food & Drink Industry SWOT

Zimbabwe Political SWOT

Zimbabwe Economic SWOT

Zimbabwe Business Environment SWOT

Macroeconomic outlook

Table: Economic Activity

Chapter 2 – Retail

Industry Forecast Scenario

Table: Zimbabwe MGR Sales By Format – Historical Data & Forecasts

Industry Developments

Company Developments

Market Overview

Table: Structure Of Zimbabwe’s MGR Sector By Number Of Outlets

Table: Retail indicators

Chapter 3 – Food & Drink

Industry Forecast Scenario

Table: Zimbabwe Sectoral Trade Indicators – Historical Data & Forecasts

Table: Food Consumption Indicators

Table: Value/Volume Sales Of Canned Food Sub-Sector – Historical Data & Forecasts

Table: Zimbabwe Beverage Sub-Sector Sales – Historical Data & Forecasts

Industry Developments

Company Developments

Market Overview

Chapter 4 – Tobacco

Table: Tobacco indicators

Market Overview

Chapter 5 – Competitive Landscape

Key Players

Table: Key Players In Zimbabwe’s MGR Sector (2004)

Table: Key Players In Zimbabwe’s Food & Drink Sector (2005)

Regional Company Case Study

Ülker Company Profile

Table: Ülker

Table: Ülker Regional Presence

Company Profiles

Meikles/Pick ‘n’ Pay

OK Zimbabwe

Dairibord Zimbabwe Ltd (DZL Holdings)

Cairns Foods Ltd

BMI Forecast Modelling

How We Generate Our Industry Forecasts

Retail Industry

Sources

Competitive Landscape for Middle East & Africa Food & Drink Reports: Sample of  
Companies Ranked

[TOP]

At-a-glance perspective on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing each market’s food & drink industry. BMI also provides similar economic and business environment studies. Company SWOTs (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) covering all leading food and drink companies operating in each market, including competitive intelligence on geographic presence and competitive positioning of multinationals against local companies; leading products, services and brands; sales and local market share; foreign direct investment, projects, partners and acquisition strategy. Illustration of the industry via rankings tables comparing revenues, number of outlets, number of employees and registration dates. BMI analyses each company’s performance, market position, strategy and investment potential.

Network of Middle Eastern & African Food Sources

[TOP]

BMI's Middle Eastern & African Food Reports are based on an extensive network of multilateral organisations, government departments, food industry associations, chambers of commerce and company reports. Information sources include: