Bafana demand and supply

A replica jersey was manufactured for R100-R150 in a COSATU-affiliated factory in Ladysmith, the wholesale price from adidas was R331 (66-55% mark-up), and it retailed for R599 (45% mark-up), Andre Kriel, SA Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) general secretary, told a press briefing following a meeting between COSATU and the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee (OC) this week.

“Across the world replica jerseys are expensive. A comparison with other replica jerseys will show that most of them are about R100 more expensive than Bafana Bafana shirts,” responds adidas SA public relations manager Zobuzwe Ngobese. “I know that there is the argument that the SA market is different to the international markets, and that is why we offer the R349 (retail price) option. We are also working with SACTWU on a R199 option, which has already been sold into retail.”

COSATU and the OC also said that they will “work together on a post-World Cup commemorative T-shirt and other goods entirely made in South Africa, to celebrate a successful World Cup”.

As an official FIFA sponsor, adidas will be producing commemorative T-shirts with small images of the jerseys of all the participating countries; and T-shirts commemorating the semi-final; the final and the World Cup winners, says Ngobese. The first of these will be in stores soon.

He also believes that the high demand for Bafana Bafana shirts will be met once product go on sale manufactured in the Lesotho factory adidas contracted when demand exceeded supply late last year, despite the two factories in Durban and Ladysmith running at full capacity.

“We are a pre-order business: we manufacture what has been ordered by retailers. Two weeks after we launched in November last year, retailers said they needed more jerseys, and the factories have been running at full capacity since then” says Ngobese.