Consumers Resort To Cheaper Alcohol Due To Levy

"There has been a shift, as consumers trade down to less expensive traditional brews," the group's managing director Hloni Matsela said on Thursday, during a press briefing on the annual results for the year ended 31 March 2009.

The slowdown in consumer spending on alcohol products following the introduction of the levy coupled with the economic downturn negatively affected the performance of underlying associate companies Kgalagadi Breweries Limited (KBL) and Botswana Breweries Limited (BBL) especially in the second quarter of 2009.