Diversified industrial group Innscor Africa Limited says its sorghum beer brand Nyathi recorded a sharp rise in sales volumes during the nine months to March, underscoring growing competition in Zimbabwe’s traditional beer market long dominated by Delta Corporation.

The company said Nyathi volumes surged 30% over the period, driven by rising consumer demand and increased production capacity commissioned earlier in the financial year.

“The business successfully commissioned additional brewing and filling capacity at the onset of the Third Quarter, and initial plant and volume production performance has been very pleasing,” Innscor said in a trading update.

The strong performance positions Nyathi as an increasingly significant challenger within Zimbabwe’s sorghum beer segment, where Delta’s traditional beer operations have historically maintained overwhelming market dominance through brands such as Chibuku.

Nyathi’s latest growth also builds on momentum recorded in previous reporting periods. In the comparable nine months to March 2025, Innscor said the brand had remained on a “strong growth trajectory”, supported by enhanced route-to-market strategies and consumer marketing initiatives.

Earlier, when Nyathi was first introduced by The Buffalo Brewing Company in late 2022, Innscor reported that market uptake during the product’s initial quarter had been “pleasing” and that early volume performance had met expectations.

Delta has, however, also been reporting record sorghum beer volumes amid sustained consumer demand for lower-cost alcoholic beverages, particularly as inflationary pressures and disposable income constraints continue to shape consumption patterns across the economy. The beverages giant recently reported that lager beer volumes rose 16% for the quarter and 19% over the nine months to December 2025 as demand strengthened.

Innscor said the positive momentum in its beverages business was part of broader growth trends being experienced across the group’s manufacturing operations.

“Across the wider business, Innscor says it is seeing ‘encouraging volume momentum across its core manufacturing operations during the Third Quarter of the F2026 Financial Year,’” the company noted.

The group’s wider manufacturing portfolio also recorded notable gains during the current financial year. Bakery volumes increased 28%, Colcom’s protein division rose 29%, pasta volumes climbed 41% while fertiliser volumes surged 64%, largely driven by capacity expansion projects and firm market demand.

This follows similarly positive trends reported in prior years. During the nine months to March 2025, Innscor said its bakery segment volumes grew 10% while National Foods posted a 22% increase in aggregate volumes. In earlier periods, the group also recorded broad-based manufacturing growth, including a 16% rise in Colcom volumes during the nine months to March 2022.

The update signals continued resilience within Zimbabwe’s consumer goods sector despite ongoing currency volatility, high operating costs and persistent pressure on household incomes.

Manufacturers have increasingly relied on scale expansion, product diversification and pricing strategies to maintain volumes in a challenging economic environment where consumers are gravitating toward affordable product categories.