Probe into beer price hike nears completion

AN investigation into the increased prices of clear beer is expected to be completed by end of July, says the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

The investigation was instituted following the shutdown of operations at the Zambian Breweries plant in Lusaka.

CCPC is still investigating the hike of clear beer being produced by Zambian Breweries PLC, says Public Relations Officer, Rainford Mutabi, in response to a press query.

Average price for a small sized Mosi bottle is K10 with the big one going at K15 while the big Castle goes for K17 and a small one is K10.

Castle Lite big bottle is about K18 and small quantity is K10.

A small bottle of Black Label is K10 while Eagle Lager for a big bottle is K14 and the small one is K7 but all the brands had been adjusted upwards by K5.

Following this development, Mr Mutabi said CCPC would inform the general public of the outcome upon completion of its investigations by the end of July 2021.

“However, the Commission is optimistic that the supply of these products will normalise when Zambian Breweries PLC complete the ongoing expansion of their clear beer production plants around the same time,” he said.

Recently, Mr Mutabi indicated that the anti-competitive conduct was mainly in relation to price increments and tying and bundling of clear beer products of Zambian Breweries PLC.

Mr Mutabi stressed that the CCPC was cognizant of the effect this had on consumers as they had to pay higher prices.

Further, Mr Mutabi explained, some distributors allegedly hiked the price of clear beer products to take advantage of the high demand for the commodities such as Carling Black Label Lager.