PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2010

REGIONAL MARKET REPORTS 10 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 05/10 www.petpla.net Tanzania & Kenya Circumnavigating Kilimanjaro by Alexander Büchler On the borders of Tanzania and Kenya Kili- manjaro towers to a height of around 6000 metres. For our East Africa Special we cir- cumnavigated it, starting in the south-east of Tanzania at Dar- Es- Salaam. Despite its not being the capital, the government has its seat in this coastal location. It was from here that the local fire water, Bakhresa, set out to conquer the country. In addition to bottles and caps, the company also produces its preforms itself. We also took the opportunity to have a look at the company’s roots in flour production. On we went northwards, right to the foot of Kiliman- jaro itself. This is where the headquarters of Bonite, the Coca Cola bottler for the region, are located. Bonite has a kind of symbiotic relationship with the mighty mountain. Bonite is involved in a number of environmental and social undertakings geared to the mountain. Nevertheless, the company also reaps huge benefits from Kilimanjaro. The high numbers of tourists streaming into the region ensure a good level of sales. Heading north we came to Nairobi in Kenya. Here we also met with the local Coca Cola bottler, a company belonging to the Sabco Group. In the case of both CC bot- tlers we found up to the minute machine technology cou- pled with good local distribution facilities. Whereas Bonite tends to rely on recyclable glass for operations in the small volumes sector, in Nairobi they have broken through into the PET era, even for smaller volumes. Macroeconomic Data Tanzania Area ................................................... 945,087 km 2 Population............................................ 41,048,532 GNP/Head of population ......................... 415 US$ All figures 2006/07 Kenya Area .................................................... 580367 km 2 Population............................................ 39,002,772 GNP/Head of population ......................... 845 US$ All figures 2006/07 © Henry Schmitt - Fotolia.com Regional market reports Tanzania / Kenya