Some sachet water producers in the Bolgatanga Municipality in the Upper East Region say the intermittent power outages in suburbs of the municipality are affecting their operations.
According to them, the situation has either caused the destruction of their machines or caused the machines to operate below their capacity, thereby, affecting the number of bags they expected to produce to meet all the demands of the public in this hot season.
The Upper East Region is experiencing its hot season and this is the time the producers are supposed to be making more profits to cover the low sales they made during the off-season.
There are over 30 water brands being sold in the Bolgatanga Municipality during this hot season, but just a few operate throughout the year and in all seasons. Meaning, once the hot season is over many brands will go off the market.
Producers of some of the leading water brands in the Upper East Region told a1radioonline.com that the effect of intermittent power outages, the increasing cost of electric power, petrol, and materials is also having a serious effect on their operations.
One said: “This is the time we should be making good profits to cover all the expenses we made during the off-season. The hot season is our season, but the way the electricity power goes off unannounced and comes back with low current, makes it difficult to plan your production schedules. It also affects the efficiency of the machines. This is affecting production and so we are not able to meet the increasing demands.”
Meanwhile, the same cannot be said about the retailers, because many of them are making good sales in this hot season.
A1radioonline.com has also observed that many consumers during this season do not care about the quality of water nor the brand.
A sachet water consumer, David Ayine Nsoh in a brief interview with a1radioonline.com said, “…the weather is so hot and that makes me sweat a lot. I drink a lot of water to cool my body down and once I get to the shop for water, I don’t insist on brand, all I want is water. Many people do the same and so I will not be surprised if someone says some of the sachet water being sold in the shops are of low quality and yet being consumed. There are some sachet water that can be enjoyed only when frozen, if you keep them out of the fridge for some time, drinking them becomes difficult because of the taste and scent.”
Source: A1Radioonline.com/101.1MHz/Ghana
