Business / Companies
Gushungo Diary sets sights on exporting
03 May 2015 at 08:05hrs | Views
THE country's emerging dairy products manufacturing giant, Alpha Omega Dairy will soon introduce cheese as part of its product line amid revelations that the company was making headway towards exploring regional markets.
Alpha Omega marketing executive Mrs Juliet Chakara said the company would continue to introduce an array of new products as it seeks to be a leader in the provision of dairy products in the country and the southern African region.
Alpha Omega Dairy produces a wide range of products such as yoghurts, fresh milk, sour milk, ice cream, dairy fruit juices and chocolates.
"We had two huge capital investment products in the pipeline and we chose to start by introducing our wide range of ice creams because the target market was bigger unlike cheese, which is not something that is consumed by everyone but a specific market.
"Now that the ice cream range is in the market and doing well, we are working on producing cheese but it might take longer because to produce cheese we need to do it away from the other products that might be affected by the properties of cheese," Mrs Chakara said.
The company is also Halal certified and has a resident inspector who ensures that it produces foods permissible for Muslims to eat or drink under Islamic Shariah (law). The criteria specifies both what foods are allowed, and how the food must be prepared. The foods addressed are mostly types of meat and animal tissue.
All its products are ISO 22000:2005 certified by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe.
"The customers have accepted our products within a short space of time of two and a half years. We have almost the entire range of dairy products that can be produced locally and we can't even cope. We keep increasing our herd as well so that we can cope with the local demand so that the source of raw material is able to support our manufacturing activities," Mrs Chakara said.
The company has set its sights on exploring the regional market particularly targeting the lucrative Angolan market.
"Once we have satisfied the local market then we can look to export because if you go into our shops you still find imported dairy products which means there is a gap that has to be filled by local producers and once that's filled we can look to the Sadc region to start exporting.
"We have made feasibility studies in Angola and Botswana. There is a lucrative market in these countries especially in Angola, which I can regard as being cash rich, so they have disposable income to buy dairy products so they can afford to buy our products so we are looking forward to exporting there very soon," Mrs Chakara said.
The company has 1 000 cows and produces just above 25 000 litres of raw milk a day.
Alpha Omega marketing executive Mrs Juliet Chakara said the company would continue to introduce an array of new products as it seeks to be a leader in the provision of dairy products in the country and the southern African region.
Alpha Omega Dairy produces a wide range of products such as yoghurts, fresh milk, sour milk, ice cream, dairy fruit juices and chocolates.
"We had two huge capital investment products in the pipeline and we chose to start by introducing our wide range of ice creams because the target market was bigger unlike cheese, which is not something that is consumed by everyone but a specific market.
"Now that the ice cream range is in the market and doing well, we are working on producing cheese but it might take longer because to produce cheese we need to do it away from the other products that might be affected by the properties of cheese," Mrs Chakara said.
The company is also Halal certified and has a resident inspector who ensures that it produces foods permissible for Muslims to eat or drink under Islamic Shariah (law). The criteria specifies both what foods are allowed, and how the food must be prepared. The foods addressed are mostly types of meat and animal tissue.
"The customers have accepted our products within a short space of time of two and a half years. We have almost the entire range of dairy products that can be produced locally and we can't even cope. We keep increasing our herd as well so that we can cope with the local demand so that the source of raw material is able to support our manufacturing activities," Mrs Chakara said.
The company has set its sights on exploring the regional market particularly targeting the lucrative Angolan market.
"Once we have satisfied the local market then we can look to export because if you go into our shops you still find imported dairy products which means there is a gap that has to be filled by local producers and once that's filled we can look to the Sadc region to start exporting.
"We have made feasibility studies in Angola and Botswana. There is a lucrative market in these countries especially in Angola, which I can regard as being cash rich, so they have disposable income to buy dairy products so they can afford to buy our products so we are looking forward to exporting there very soon," Mrs Chakara said.
The company has 1 000 cows and produces just above 25 000 litres of raw milk a day.
Source - sundaynews
