Vinegar shortage hits South Africa as key manufacturer shuts down amid SARS investigation

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to Louis Opperman, Head of Commercial at Jumbo Brands, a supplier to the industry of both spirit and imitation vinegars.

Listen below: 

A lack of vinegar on shelves is leaving a sour taste with consumers.

South Africa is experiencing a vinegar shortage, driven by a combination of global and domestic supply chain issues, interruptions to plant maintenance, power outages, rising raw material costs, and industrial challenges.

Imitation vinegar, while more stable in formulation, faces its own challenges due to packaging shortages and chemical input costs.

Over the past two decades, vinegar consumption in South Africa has been steadily growing, fueled by diverse and versatile applications in both the food, manufacturing, and industrial sectors.

In South Africa, there are only two manufacturers of vinegar, but one of them has been shut down due to a pending investigation by the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

"The key thing that's happening at the moment is that there are only two large fermenters of vinegar... for the normal spirit vinegar we buy on the shelves... and one of these fermenters has been closed down pending an investigation by SARS which means that supply has dried up and producers and bottlers of vinegar had to make other plans."

- Louis Opperman, Jumbo Brands

"It will mostly affect the spirit vinegar side because the other variants of vinegar [apple cider, grape, wine, etc] are a value add and therefore producers would typically try and keep the value-added components in stock, which would put pressure on spirit vinegar."

- Louis Opperman, Jumbo Brands

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