Innscor, the diversified Zimbabwean consumer goods and foodservice conglomerate, has seen volumes plummet as the country’s economic problems bite. Its bakery operations, and subsidiaries include Profeeds, Colcom, National Foods, Probottlers, Bakery operations and Probrands have all seen a decline in volumes.

For the quarter July-end September, trading volumes for loaves were down 38%, as pricing and availability of wheat meant Innnscor’s bakeries struggled to meet demand. Total volumes at Colcom, Zimbabwe’s leading pork producer were 17% below those in the same period – even though pig supply had increased. At Innscor’s Probottlers, soft drinks production was affected by poor electrical power supply, whcih helped drive volumes 44% down compared to the same period in 2018. Innscor’s commodities arm Probrands, which distributes rice, milk powder, canned products and detergents and more, saw volumes decline 40%.

The distressed state of volumes stands in sharp contrast to Innscor’s year end results (July-June), which saw operating profit rise by 234% to ZWL$258m on revenues of ZWL$1.286bn, up 104 on the year prior.  This was driven by volume growth in all businesses apart from its the bread and flour trading arms.