SOUTH AFRICA – South African wine, cider and spirits company, Distell, through its Nederburg wines brand has launched a campaign aimed to help the hospitality sector recover revive operations.

Under the campaign dubbed #TastesOfSouthAfrica, Nederburg is spending close to R1m (US$70,300) to encourage diners to return to their favourite licenced eateries in a campaign primarily designed to boost the beleaguered restaurant sector, reports Bizcommunity.

The brand is giving away R600,000 (42,000) in vouchers of the 150 restaurants they are working with nationwide, that can be redeemed at participating establishments during August and September.

At the same time, every wait staff member selling Nederburg wines at these restaurants over the period will be entitled to a cash incentive.

“Restaurants have been amongst the hardest-hit sectors in the pandemic,” says marketing manager Jackie Olivier. “We hope this campaign will bring people back to dining out again. Restaurants, service staff and the public all need an incentive to get the momentum going.”

Nederburg is also giving away R200,000 (US$14,000) of wine and other prizes, and still more restaurant vouchers, via its social media platforms for these two months.

Players such as Diageo, have also extended their support to the Horeca industry.

The brewer launched a US$100 million two-year programme dubbed “Raising the Bar” to support the recovery of major hospitality centres in New York, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Sydney and beyond.

In the East African region, the company rolled out the initiative through its subsidiary East African Breweries, the parent company of Kenya Breweries Limited in Kenya, Uganda Breweries Limited in Uganda and Serengeti Breweries Limited in Tanzania.

Kenya Breweries Limited got the lion’s share receiving US$3 million while Uganda Breweries Limited and Serengeti Breweries Limited each got US$1 million.

The targeted support includes purchasing equipment such as hygiene kits, permanent sanitizer dispenser units, hand sanitizers, masks, and protection screens for bars that cannot maintain the one metre social distance.

The fund will also enable the establishments obtain mobile bars and outdoor equipment as well as undertake partnerships with online reservations and cashless systems, developing contactless technology.

Through the programme, the outlet operators will be trained on the safety measures they need to take to protect themselves and their customers, upon resumption.