Schweppes eyes Sadc Industrialisation Week spoils

SCHWEPPES Zimbabwe Limited has pledged to invest more in citrus production as it seeks to increase production and value-addition at its Beitbridge Juice Processing Plant with a focus on penetrating the wider regional market.

The company’s spokesperson, Ms Ropafadzo Gwanetsa, said they were targeting to process 32 000 tons of citrus fruit during this year’s harvesting season.

She said the establishment of the juice plant in Beitbridge, which is powered by a mini-solar power plant during the day and the national electricity grid at night was one of the many initiatives to drive rural industrialisation.

The solar plant, she said, had reduced their production costs by a quarter. Ms Gwanetsa said out of the harvesting season that is mostly in winter, they employ 200 workers drawn from local communities and that the number rises to 1 200 during the harvesting season.

“We are servicing the domestic markets and we have also started exporting orange concentrate into the region, mainly in South Africa, Botswana and Zambia, but our intention is to actually grow and expand the export market not only for juice but for many by-products so that we generate the much-needed foreign currency,” she said.

“We do have a lot of collaboration with local farmers both communal and commercial. We do support communal irrigation products like the Shashe Irrigation project, which has about 250 smallholder farmers supplying the factory at the moment.

Beitbridge Juice processing plant workers sort oranges for crushing into juice concentrate and other by-products last week

“In addition, as an organisation, we take note of the opening up of the African Free Continental Trade Area and we are hoping to participate through collaboration, cross-pollination of ideas, export generation and local investments.”
Ms Gwanetsa said the forthcoming Sadc Industrialisation Week slated for the end of this month presents a huge opportunity for them to discuss the growth of the citrus industry.

This year’s seventh annual Sadc Industrialisation Week to Drive Regional Economic Growth is set to take place from July 28 to August 2, 2024 in Harare. It will be held under the theme: “Promoting Innovation to Unlock Opportunities for Sustainable Economic Growth and Development Towards an Industrialised Sadc.”

As such, Ms Gwanetsa said they were looking forward to the engagements that are to further collaborate and expand their markets share in the region and beyond.

She said the organisation was also planning to expand its production in Matabeleland South and that a new plant will be set up when they complete putting together the citrus plantation to increase their feedstock.

“The additional processing plant and a new citrus orchard will be best located in Beitbridge. In fact, this is the hub of citrus production in the country,” added Ms Gwanetsa.

“Our main scope is processing oranges, lemons and grapefruits into juice concentrate, which can be frozen and we also produce essential oils from the orange and lemons peel and stocks feeds, among other by-products.

“This year, we are targeting to process around 32 000 tonnes of orange fruit, which will be the largest volume we have processed here, although it is still way below our capacity to produce 40 000 tonnes per season.”

In the last two years, through engagements with the Government, she said, her organisation managed to secure some land and they are in the process of developing it.-chroncile