Business / Companies
Bata revives Sandak and Pata Pata brands
07 Apr 2016 at 09:16hrs | Views
The country's biggest shoe manufacturer, Bata Shoe Company, has reintroduced the Sandak and Pata Pata brands as it seeks to regain its market share.
The local brands had come under pressure from cheap footwear imports mainly from the Far East.
Bata suspended production of the two brands in 2008 at the height of the country's economic crisis and has been importing the products since 2014.
Now, it has resumed production under a programme that has seen the company ramping up capacity utilisation to 95 percent.
Bata managing director, Ahm Ehsanuzzaman, told the Financial Gazette's Companies & Markets that they had subcontracted an associated business unit (ABU) to manufacture Pata Pata while the Sandak brand would be produced at its Gweru factory.
ABU represents local firms which have been provided equipment and technical expertise and are sub contracted to manufacture shoes on behalf of Bata.
"We have opened an ABU for Pata Pata production because it used to be a very popular product in Zimbabwe in the past. This will go a long way in creating employment since they are being produced locally," said Ehsanuzzaman .
"We have also invested in plastic machines for the manufacture of the Sandak brands which were again popular in the country. We are doing these projects because these are not high value merchandise but what we have put in place is good quality. There are plastic shoes that have been coming and these are not of good quality and people have faith in our brands and this will see us compete with these cheap imports," he added.
Turning to the company's leather section, the Bata boss said the imposition of a US$0,75 export tax on every kilogramme of rawhide by government to discourage the exportation of the commodity had helped the company with adequate stocks for its production.
Bata had been rattled by high leather costs blamed on illegal export of the commodity.
The Gweru-based firm employs about 1 100 people and produces 2,2 million pairs of shoes annually.
At peak production at the turn of the millennium, the company, which is one of the few surviving industries in the Midlands capital, had a workforce of 5 000 people.
The local brands had come under pressure from cheap footwear imports mainly from the Far East.
Bata suspended production of the two brands in 2008 at the height of the country's economic crisis and has been importing the products since 2014.
Now, it has resumed production under a programme that has seen the company ramping up capacity utilisation to 95 percent.
Bata managing director, Ahm Ehsanuzzaman, told the Financial Gazette's Companies & Markets that they had subcontracted an associated business unit (ABU) to manufacture Pata Pata while the Sandak brand would be produced at its Gweru factory.
ABU represents local firms which have been provided equipment and technical expertise and are sub contracted to manufacture shoes on behalf of Bata.
"We have also invested in plastic machines for the manufacture of the Sandak brands which were again popular in the country. We are doing these projects because these are not high value merchandise but what we have put in place is good quality. There are plastic shoes that have been coming and these are not of good quality and people have faith in our brands and this will see us compete with these cheap imports," he added.
Turning to the company's leather section, the Bata boss said the imposition of a US$0,75 export tax on every kilogramme of rawhide by government to discourage the exportation of the commodity had helped the company with adequate stocks for its production.
Bata had been rattled by high leather costs blamed on illegal export of the commodity.
The Gweru-based firm employs about 1 100 people and produces 2,2 million pairs of shoes annually.
At peak production at the turn of the millennium, the company, which is one of the few surviving industries in the Midlands capital, had a workforce of 5 000 people.
Source - fingaz
