Bonang Matheba has been the talk of the town, after a picture of her popular alcohol brand, “House of BNG”, was circulating with it being priced to clear at R100 per bottle at a Woolworths store.
This comes after controversial celebrity blogger Musa Khawula shared the picture on social media.
The store in question could not be determined.
South Africans were shocked to see the price reduction as it normally retails at R300 per bottle.
According to the blogger, it was also reduced to R200 and now it retails to R100 per bottle.
Other stores which sell “House of BNG” like Makro, Woolies and Checkers were still selling the drink at its normal retail price of R300.
However, it is quite possible that perhaps “House of BNG” is rebranding hence it is being reduced to clear. Another possible factor might be that the sales are quite low and they are trying to remove it from the shelves.
A liquor industry expert, Monsieur Ponto commented on an X user’s post who was shocked at the price reduction and said: “It’s not only her, a lot of alcohol brands are being uplifted (meaning removed from the shelves for non performance)
“Alcohol sales have dropped dramatically this year, especially spirits and wines. People are opting for beer and ciders”
South Africans also weighed in on the matter, with many being shocked that the brand is being retailed at such a low price.
X user @EmpireTDlu commented, “She needs to rebrand to reinvent herself and rebrand or else gone with the wind”
Another X user @breezerm85 commented, “Case study was poorly done. Wine that costs plus R200 is an established brand. It should have started at R99 per bottle. It was gonna grow eventually”
X user @BonoloAnne commented, “The thing with celebrity brands, their hype does not last that long. Maybe people did not find it interesting, so they are buying other things”
IOL