TBL EXPERIENCES PHENOMENAL GROWTH

The TBL Managing Director who is also AB-inBev’s President of the East African Business Unit,Roberto Jarrin ,at the Second Ministerial Dialogue with the Private Sector whose theme was “ The Sate of Doing Business in Tanzania”.

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We have experienced phenomenal growth from the second quarter of this year and will soon be looking to increase our production capacities, says the TBL Managing Director, Roberto Jarrrin.

Jarrin was speaking at the Second Ministerial Dialogue with the Private Sector whose theme was “ The Sate of Doing Business in Tanzania”. The dialogue was hosted by the Minister of Finance and Planning - Honourable Philip Mpango and the Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment - Honourable Charles Mwijage in Dar es Salaam this week. This was a follow up to a similar meeting that was held in Dodoma early this year.

The TBL Managing Director who is also AB-inBev’s President of the East African Business Unit, said that existing market conditions – the company had previously been growing at the rate of negative 0.3% - had forced the company to re-think its operating model and realign it to the realities of the market . This had in turn led to TBL growing its business by 20% since June this year. Adding that, “We are optimistic that this growth will continue and are looking to invest in increased production capacity to cater for this because our plants are currently operating at maximum capacity.”

On what was driving the growth, Jarrin said it is mainly driven by the affordable brands and packs segment which are primarily sorghum based. “The affordable segment of our market which essentially sources its growth from the informal sector, is price sensitive and for us to invest in a new brewery we would like to work with the Government of Tanzania to create a stable and predictable excise regime. Increased production volumes will in turn translate into increased revenue collection,” he said.

Insofar as supporting the government’s industrialisation drive is concerned, the Managing Director had this to say, “ We at TBL Group consider ourselves an agro-processing industry because agricultural produce – barley, sorghum, maize and sugar - are the key ingredients in our products. Increased production levels thus require increased purchases of the cereals that we use in our breweries. Our continued growth as a business has a direct impact on many sectors of which agriculture is the main one.”

TBL Group has been a consistent top performer since its privatization in 1993. The business has also doubled in size over the past five years due to the on-going investments in our operations. “We plough back between TShs. 90 -150 billion in the upgrading of our breweries and distilleries to world-class standards around the country every year, “ says Jarrin.