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| Business |
| Sobo ready for competition |
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by
Leonard Sharra, 01 October 2003
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18:38:09
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Southern Bottlers Malawi Ltd (Sobo) has said it is prepared to face the tough competition that has emerged on the soft drink market by making products that will satisfy customers’ expectations.
Sobo chairman Matthews Chikaonda made the declaration on Monday, when he officially launched the new Sobo packages for Orange Squash and Quench bottled water at the company’s premises in Kanengo, Lilongwe.
Chikaonda noted that the economic environment had become ‘very tough’ resulting in a big competition for certain products including those from Sobo.
“We at Sobo have decided to face this competition by introducing quality products that will meet customers’ satisfaction. We know customers have become sophisticated in their choice of products and we have to move along with the times,” said Chikaonda, describing the improved Sobo packages made from poly-ethylene terrapthalate (PET) as convenient for their customers.
Outlining some of the advantages of the PET products over the old PVC products, Chikaonda, who is also chief executive for Press Corporation Limited, one of Sobo’s major shareholders said the new packages were shatter proof, hard to break and lightweight in complexion.
To demonstrate the points, an official from the company stood on a bottle filled with the new 2 litre packages and threw it down without breaking.
Sobo chief executive Chadwick Mphande said the plant for producing the new packages, which has been installed at the Kanengo factory, had cost the company over K112m.
Mphande disclosed that the company would from next month start producing Coca-Cola products like Fanta, Sprite and Coca-Cola in PET packages.
“We are mainly thinking of customer convenience. Once we start producing Coca-Cola products in PET packages, customers will no longer go through the hassles of exchanging bottles or paying for bottle deposits because the new bottles will be disposable,” he said.
The chief executive said the new Coca-Cola product packages would come with the introduction of a new drink called Splash.
Taking his turn, Coca-Cola company’s regional director for Southern Africa Carl Willis congratulated Sobo on the launch of the new products. He disclosed that Sobo was on the brink of scooping the Coca-Cola Best Bottler award, which was won by Mutale Bottlers of Zimbabwe last year.
“We (Coca-Cola) run this competition every year and I am pleased to disclose that Sobo is currently leading the pack,” he said.
Willis, however, hoped that Sobo would continue doing well until December, when the award winner would be determined. |
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