There was a time when Delta was the undisputed champion of the fizzy drink market and no one came even close. So dominant were they that just about every fizzy drink in Zimbabwe was known colloquially as coke. Then Varun came along with their Pepsi brand and stole that crown from Delta who fumbled and stumbled and fluffed their market dominance thanks to unfortunate pricing decisions. Delta has been trying to rectify some of these decisions since and the results seem to be coming in. Delta is now the biggest drinks maker in Zimbabwe again. According to the latest data.

Drink Type	June 2021	March 2022
Sparkling Beverages	47%	59%
Lagers	92%	95%
Chibuku	69%	86%
Maheu	16%	55%

Pepsi and sparkle have been giving the company a run for its money in the sparkling drinks market but Delta is still the undisputed king of lagers in Zimbabwe and that fact is easily shown in the market. Foreign brews make up the remaining 5% making Delta a virtual monopoly in the lager industry. That is both a good and bad thing. The good news is that despite being a near-monopoly the company has been very prolific in terms of innovation as it recently launched the Sable Lager.

Super and Scuds from Delta also dominate the opaque beer market although here Delta’s position is less dominant thanks to a couple local and traditional brews. The market is also less hard to penetrate for competitors although thanks to brand recognition and good marketing Delta’s brands have a strong position in this market as well. The Maheu market is different. Here brand recognition plays a small role and there is no shortage of known brands with Dairiboard’s Pfuko Maheu being one of the well known. This is a market that will be hard to dominate as he others and also not as lucrative.