Namibians love their Castelo, NBL says

Namibians have grown fond of Castelo wine, with Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) having seen growth in its sales.

This was revealed by NBL managing director Peter Simons yesterday during the announcement of the company’s six months financial results.

“Interestingly enough, one of our brands that’s called Castelo is showing really good growth,” he said.

He said this is due to changes in consumer dynamics.

“Consumers are looking for the right balance between price and value in lower price segments, where we have seen pressure on the mainstream beer and wine segment,” he said.

“At the same time, we have seen growth in the premium segment driven by the emerging middle class in brands like Heineken, Savanna and Richelieu,” he said.

NBL is also seeing good sales for ciders.

“Ciders showed promising growth, with Savanna and Hunter’s increasing volumes. Similar positive trends are evident in the spirits category, especially in premium offerings, where Richelieu delivered a strong performance.

The ciders are produced by Distell, which has been acquired by Heineken, which also owns NBL.

“Ready-to-drink beverages also present growth opportunities. Wine volume remained relatively flat,” NBL said in its company’s interim results.

The Namibian this week reported that NBL announced a decrease in their beer sales during the first half of 2024, despite the company’s interim results showing a net revenue increase of 15% to N$2,1 billion.

NBL said the Namibian beer volumes decreased by 13,7% due to challenging economic conditions.

“Production volumes to South Africa followed a similar pattern, with a 67,1% decline. Export volumes to other markets increased by 2,7%, with Windhoek Lager the overall best performer by volume,” NBL stated in their report.