National Foods plans US$5m pasta plant

GIANT agro-processing company, National Foods Limited (NFL), plans to set up a US$5 million pasta plant by October to meet growing demand in the country and help reduce the import bill.

Money – Image taken from Pixabay

The plant is expected to produce 16 000 tonnes of pasta annually. Pasta is a mixture of water and flour and its range of products are fast gaining market interest as part of the family basket. The country is fast increasing its wheat cultivation, a key ingredient in flour production.

In 2022, the country recorded surplus wheat output after harvesting 375 000 tonnes from the 80 883 hectares planted by farmers during the winter cropping season.

National Foods

About 360 000 tonnes of wheat are required for national consumption annually.

The milling company is involved in flour and maize milling, stock feed, and cereal production, as well as projects in groceries, snacks and treats, and cooking oil manufacturing.

Sharing the company’s expansion plans with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development officials recently, National Foods chief executive officer, Mr Michael Lashbrook, said there is a robust demand for the product in the country.

“When we become a surplus wheat producer, to us it does not make sense to import pasta, which is basically flour and water. We must make this (pasta) locally,” he noted.

Permanent Secretary, Dr John Basera, said the Government was impressed with National Foods’ investment plans.

Dr John Basera

“We are impressed by their contribution, especially to food security with a slant towards food self-sufficiency in Zimbabwe,” he said.

“We are also impressed with the capex investments which they are outlining especially towards automation, modernisation and also trying to improve the production and processing efficiencies so that ultimately as a country and industry we are competitive.”

National Foods recently listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX), becoming the 8th issuer on the foreign currency-denominated bourse.

National Foods

The company is the country’s largest food manufacturer, producing a broad range of fast-moving consumer goods, as well as animal feed with an international distribution network.

Over the years National Foods has embarked on a growth strategy with entry into a number of new categories as well as significant investments into existing categories.

The company has invested millions in setting up state-of-the-art processing plants to replace old mills and ramp up production in the country.

Starting last year, NFL has invested US$30 million in a hi-tech flour-making plant in Bulawayo to replace the 72-year-old mill and ramp up production by more than 2 000 tonnes, and other plants in Harare.-chronicle.cl.zw