9 September, 2004
A beverage packaging company has come up with a unique way to market a new cheap soft drink to lower-income earners – and it’s partnering with a street hawkers body to do it.
Beverage Packaging South Africa (SA), which packages wines and a range of hip energy and alcoholic drinks, has launched a carbonated soft drink, Hola, together with the African Chamber of Hawkers and Informal Business (Achib).
Hola will retail for R2.99 for a 340ml can – some 64c cheaper than the supermarket price of a can of Coke. BPSA says it expects to compete for 3% of the non-alcoholic beverage market in its target market, in and around Soweto and in Johannesburg’s CBD.
There are an estimated 15 000 spaza shops and 25 000 hawkers operating in the target area.
The company has already signed up 5 000 hawkers to sell the product.
BPSA says its partnership with Achib will allow wholesalers to make at least 20% profit from the sale of the drinks to street vendors. Distributors (or “runners’) to the vendors will be able to make R4 on a case and effectively R400 a load – considered better than other deals runners get for distributing soft drinks.
Hawkers are expected to make a 20% mark up profit, selling the drink at just under three rand. They should make at least make R1 on every can sold.
The company says while costs are usually added for the transit of the products from manufacturing to the wholesaler then to the retailer, Hola will come straight from manufacture to the hawkers.
It says it expects to sell about 25 000 cases in the first month.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
