While the world worries about an oversupply of carbon dioxide, caused by increasing emissions, in South Africa, we’ve almost run out of carbon dioxide (CO2) to put into soft drinks.
The national CO2 shortage has in the past four weeks affected normal production of Coca-Cola brands, and it is likely to persist right into the new year.
Sasol and PetroSA, the primary suppliers of CO2, closed down their plants for routine maintenance earlier this year. Consequently, they weren’t able to meet commitments to Afrox, which supplies Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI) with gas. ABI bottles Coca-Cola in South Africa. Since the shortage, ABI has only been able to meet at least 60% to 75% of the normal demand. But in November and December, demand is 150% higher than usual, resulting in a significant shortfall.
Retailers, general dealers and neighbourhood supermarkets throughout the country are affected. The company has more than 43 000 customers who supply soft drinks to consumers. ABI is planning to import about 20-million soft-drink cans during November and December, said company spokesperson Michael Farr, but the usual variety of brands and sizes will not be available.
“We are expecting our first shipment from [the United Kingdom] and Singapore [this week],” he confirmed. He said ABI would focus on Coca-Cola’s core brands, which include Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. These soft drinks make up about 80% of what is currently consumed in the market. However, lower volume brand types such as the Fanta Pine and Grape, Sprite Zero and Tab will remain in short supply for the next few months.
ABI says it hopes the shortage will be under control by January 2007, but it could ease in a matter of days. Farr said the company is expecting a full supply of food grade CO2 from Afrox next week. “We are working flat out to normalise supplies as soon as we can and, in the short term, are doing our best to ensure that all our customers receive the maximum stock that we are able to provide,” said Farr. He added that fair supply to customers is currently done on the basis of how much the customers need and that ABI has an obligation to meet this need.
But at least we’ll still have alcohol. Contrary to earlier reports, SABMiller has confirmed that beer production won’t be affected, as its breweries are self-reliant as far as CO2 is concerned.
PetroSA spokesperson Butana Nkosi said it would be able to supply CO2 by next Friday. Sasol spokesperson Marina Bidoli said the company’s Sasolburg plant had been shut down last month, resulting in a 12-day CO2 shortage. However, the plant has been operating at full production since October 27.
Shoprite spokesperson Brian Weyers said the shortage was unpredictable and that all areas would not be affected in the same way. “Should a shortage of carbonated soft drinks arise, it is expected that consumers will switch to alternative products in the beverage category, such as cordials, nectars and fresh juices,” Weyers said.
But spaza-shop owner Tshepo Tshikane of Mogale City felt betrayed by ABI for failing to communicate the CO2 shortages to informal business sector players. He explained that carbonated drinks make up half of his income in summer and that limited stock could damage his business. “Why can’t these people come up with alternatives, such as importing carbon dioxide?” he asked.