National Foods monopoly unfair

EDITOR — Please help by pushing my plight and that of my fellow traders in Binga and Lupane. I am a desperate Binga-based rural shop owner. I have run my businesses for more than 20 years and supported the community through providing first class grocery service. A few years ago, National Foods set up a depot in Binga. I celebrated not knowing that was the end of my business. National Foods is retailing to end users and forcing small operators to shut down throughout the region and therefore creating unemployment.

My cousin who is now based in South Africa told me that it also happened in Lupane. The shop owners have been forced to close by the unorthodox marketing and sales approach of National Foods.  Other companies like Econet, Telecel and Netone create jobs and opportunities for the community when they expand while National Foods is creating poverty. I have no option but to close and send my assistants home.  I am desperate as I see a life-time investment going up in smoke. I am not asking for free shares. I just want National Foods to sell to wholesalers and retailers and not take the whole cake. Is this correct in terms of the laws of competition?

What is sad is that from Lupane to Binga all their employees come from Harare and the local community has been left counting the cost.  Maybe National Foods has complied with indigenisation laws, but honestly this attempt to monopolise growth points is unfair and unreasonable. I therefore ask that the government protects us and use the law to ensure fair competition.
Binga Sole Trader

….Response

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We value the small traders throughout the country which is why we have depots in the remotest parts of Zimbabwe such that we can supply them goods at the same price as they buy in Harare, and the traders can sell those goods to their customers and make a fair profit.

The key points to note are;
● National Foods only sells to registered customers through the depots, and on a wholesale basis.
● We do not break cases and do not sell individual units of any products. This is the job of the trader and enables him/her to make profit.
● We do not sell directly to the public.
● Historically, the people living in remote areas were penalised on price as the manufacturers added transport costs to the price. National Foods sells at one price nationwide, which is of significant benefit to the people of Binga for example.
● We have asked our management to investigate further into the complaints, however, at this point we remain entirely confident that National Foods is offering an outstanding service to the remote communities and is in fact, helping the small traders to succeed.

Yours, very sincerely
Jeremy Brooke
National Foods CEO