Advertisements for Anheuser-Busch InBev's premium Corona beer include the tagline, “Paradise is best with lime,” and the beer is usually served with a slice of lime in the mouth of the bottle.
But as Mexican-origin beer gains popularity in South Africa, the country's lime shortage threatens the very essence of the drinking ritual, prompting AB InBev's South African Brewery (SAB) to invest R19 million (99 million rand) in a local lime-growing project in Mexico. The company decided to invest $9,000. Northern Limpopo province.
“The problem is that less than 10% of South Africa's citrus farmland was dedicated to lime,” SAB corporate vice president Zoleka Lisa told Reuters.
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“So there was actually a shortage of limes… which means we were importing them. Now, because the limes are being imported, we don't know when we're going to get them, and secondly, it also increases the cost. .”
Wandile Shilobo, chief economist at the South African Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce, said much of the lime produced in South Africa was exported..
In 2020, SAB partnered with Moretere Community and Komati Fruit Group, which provided land in the state, to establish and operate an agricultural project primarily serving the makers of Carling Black Label beer.
Pete Smit, chief executive of Komati, which operates the 60-hectare farm, said lime yields are expected to be around 700 tonnes in the 2023 financial year, more than double the target of 300 tonnes. .
“This quickly became the largest lime farm in South Africa,” he told Reuters at the farm.
The project is not only benefitting major beer companies, it is also employing local residents like mother-of-two Ponsho Mathebula and helping the region become South Africa's largest lime producer. .
“My life before working at Moletele Lime Project was very difficult. I know poverty and have experienced it. It is not easy to not have a job,” said the 39-year-old. told Reuters from his home after finishing a shift at a farm where he runs an irrigation system.
“Thanks to that work, my children will never go to school hungry… They will have a school bag and they will have shoes on their feet,” she said.