HARARE (FinX) – British multinational Unilever says it is reviewing its route to market model in Zimbabwe by using a local partner to distribute its products in the country.
Unilever are makers of food and personal care products such as Vaseline, Domestos, Dove, Knorr, Knorrox, Ola, and Ponds.
Recently the company, in an internal memo to its staff, announced that it would move to a new model that serves Zimbabwean consumers through a network of Zimbabwean distribution firms rather than through Unilever-owned operations by the end of the year.
The company stopped local manufacture of its products in the early 2000s save for a few lines such as Royco. The products were being distributed through Unilever-owned operations
In a tender offer, Unilever said it would select an entity to distribute its products on a non-exclusive basis in the same. The company believes this approach will be more efficient and will stimulate business growth, create jobs in sales, logistics, and merchandising, and better serve Zimbabwean consumers with popular Unilever brands.
The contract to be awarded will run for a period of three years. Interested parties must present their business legitimacy, import capacity, distribution network, financial health, and reputation in a 12-slide PowerPoint presentation.
A year ago, Unilever Plc pulled the plug on the manufacturing of home-care and skin-cleansing products in Nigeria to “sustain profitability.” This is now part of a common trend with multinationals as they are scaling back operations across the African continent. Pharma giants Bayer AG and GSK Plc have outsourced distribution of their products to independent companies in Kenya and Nigeria and Nestlé SA in August shuttered production of Nesquik chocolate milk powder in South Africa, citing falling demand.
