Bottle caps bearing the 7-Up symbol are being used on Mirinda soft drinks, as MOHA, the local bottling company, faces a bottle cap shortage that may eventually force it away from its long time supplier; the state-owned, Ethiopian Crown Cork & Can Manufacturing.
For three weeks now, Mirinda Orange and Pepsi Cola have been in short supply in Addis Abeba.
MOHA’s projections for the month of March had been 2.5 million crates of soft drinks, of which 56pc would have been Mirinda Orange and 30pc Pepsi. However, it has been forced to cut production by 20pc within the last three weeks, according to Getachew Birbo, chief executive officer for MOHA Soft Drinks Industry SC.
“MOHA’s bottle cap supplier has not been able to deliver the required amount since March 4, 2013,” Getachew told Fortune. “Since then our production has decreased.”
The Ethiopian Crown Cork & Can Manufacturing told MOHA that the shortage of bottle caps was due to a shortage of the inner plastic lining, according to Getachew.
The company’s officials declined to respond to Fortune’s queries. MOHA has mitigated the problem it is facing by using bottle caps made for 7-Up.
Established in May 1996, MOHA acquired the Nefas Silk, Teklehaimanot, Gondar and Dessie plants from the Ethiopian Privatisation Agency, for 108.7 million Br. The company currently has seven operating units, including; the Summit Plant, Bure Plant and, the recently inaugurated, Hawassa Plant in the Southern region.
The company’s main products are Pepsi Cola, Mirinda Orange and 7-Up, but it also produces Mirinda Tonic, Mirinda Apple and Kool (Bure Kool and Tossa bottled water products).
Annual turnover of the company has reached 556 million Br and sales stand at 12pc of the annual growth rate.
MOHA is also one of Ethiopian Crown Cork & Can Manufacturing’s biggest customers, buying 60pc of the factory’s bottle cap production, according to Getachew. Their size has also helped them to alleviate their current problem.
“Since 7-Up makes up only three percent of our soft drink production, we have extra stock to use for the other soft drinks,” Getachew said.
“We cannot afford to lose our customers by relying on third party suppliers,” he added.
To solve the problem in the long run, MOHA is planning to construct its own bottle cap factory, in collaboration with one of the MIDROC group companies, according to Getachew. The plans will be concrete in three months from now, he told Fortune.
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