On October 12, a new Sidel Group subsidiary was opened in South Africa to better serve its customers in that specific area. The Johannesburg-based company will be the supply centre for Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland.
The company currently has more than 400 pieces of equipment in South Africa but the local beverage market could still be growing. According to some recent surveys, in 2009, 3.5 billion litres of beer and 4 billion litres of carbonated drinks were consumed in South Africa. Forecasts call for further increases of 5.4% and 1.6% per year respectively by 2014.