It’s dry but you can drink it: Why there’s a shortage of Savanna cider in SA

South Africans were alarmed by the recent and notable shortage in Savanna cider across the country.

Food24 decided to investigate why there’s been scarcity of the drink in local stores and bars. We reached out to Distell, manufacturer and distributor of Savanna to find out more.

Eugene Lenford, Marketing Manager of Savanna attributes the shortage in cider to the impacts of global commerce and glass stock causing material shortages and delivery delays to consumers.

“We are experiencing a global glass shortage and shipping delays as a result of the pandemic, along with exponential growth over the past 18 months. The demand for Savanna’s range has exceeded supply for an extended period to date. We have been under more pressure in recent months but since October, it became exponentially more evident that the issues resulting from the pandemic have caught up to us and us and have started to affect our valuable consumers. We are not out of stock – we are low on stock. We should see an uptick in product deliveries before the end of November.”

There is currently a shortage of the entire range but Savanna has pre-planned to ensure that everyone has a festive ‘Ke-Dezemba’.

“Millions of litres of Savanna is still being produced every day and has already been allocated to local retailers to avoid a shortage over the festive season. We are also working on short, medium and long-term solutions to remedy this with glass and other suppliers. We do not want this to happen again,” says Lenford.

 

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Although there is currently low stock of the cider, Lenford encourages locals not to rush to their nearest stores to purchase all the Savanna available – as it is merely a shortage.

“We want to reassure all South Africans that they will have more than enough Savanna in stock at their local retailer in the very near future and that there will be no need to panic or bulk buy. We are on top of this.”

Savanna Dry came onto the market in May 1996. It’s now sold in over 40 countries and is South Africa’s leading cider export and the third-largest cider brand in the world. Although locals love the Dry, Light and Angry Lemon Savanna ciders, there has been an uptake in popularity of the non-alcoholic version.

“Since first introducing our Savanna Non-Alcoholic variant we have seen significant growth of it due to the increasing move to more moderate and conscious consumption.”

Fear not, fellow South Africans, because come this festive season you will definitely be able to crack open a cold and refreshing “Sa-vange” while you spend the days under the summer sun. Whether that’s the alcoholic or non-alcoholic version.