Lupane Veggie Guys penetrates regional market

LUPANE Veggie Guys, a local company in the Matabeleland North provincial capital, has embarked on a massive expansion drive that has earned it regional recognition.

Through its robust and hands-on approach, the company is empowering rural communities through the promotion of indigenous fruits and vegetables.

Lupane Veggie Guys first made headlines in 2020 when it introduced a one-of-a-kind chilli sauce and later a wide range of products that include juices, vinegar, pastes and purified water, which triggered economic empowerment for rural communities through a value chain.

It was only last year, after exhibiting for the first time at the 26th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) that the company managed to attract regional attention.

The company’s chief executive officer, Ms Esther Marisa, said the company’s rigorous initiatives are paying off as some South African companies have shown interest in their products, particularly their line of chilli sauces.

“Our chilli sauce has hit Johannesburg. Several companies have shown interest in the sauces and we will soon be exporting our products to South Africa,” she said.

“The demand is quite high and we are confident that this marks the beginning of our brand going global.”

Ms Marisa said the company, together with its partners, is extensively working on modalities to export to Britain, Canada and Australia.

“Lupane Veggie Guys was established in 2020. Its inception was based on the realisation that chilli was too expensive and that is when we started processing and selling our chilli and the demand was astronomical,” she said.

Ms Marisa said the company engaged women in Lupane to start chilli production and 100 of them are now in the business.

Ms Marisa said the company last year managed to secure some land in Lupane where they have since established a food processing plant that they use to process their products.

“We have several partners that we work with and we have been to the country’s four provinces in our venture to promote indigenous fruits and cuisine. We realised that many indigenous fruits can produce juices such as wild melder (umviyo) and bird plum (umnyi) snort apple, (uxakuxaku) to mention but a few,” she said.

“That is how we decided to start producing value-added products for over 40 different fruit products.”

Ms Marisa said rural areas such as Tsholotsho and Lupane are endowed with fruit trees hence sourcing the ingredients has not been a challenge.

“We have initiated a value chain that will develop our rural communities. We have visited several villages in these two districts to assess the development and the ripening of the fruit as they are the ones supplying us,” she said.

Ms Marisa said their vision is to see their indigenous juices competing with well-known exotic flavours.

She, however, noted that in their plans to export overseas, they would need extensive funding as the demand was high.

“For now we will satisfy the regional market before we go global. We have people who are placing orders from as far as the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland. However, we are struggling to meet the demand because the machinery to process requires reconfiguration and redesigning,” said Ms Marisa.

“It is difficult for us to export as the demand is too high to meet and without the proper machinery, we are not likely to meet the deadlines. For instance, there is a dealer in Australia who wants 100 cases a week and another in the UK.”

The company boasts of having more than 40 different indigenous fruit trees in Zimbabwe and they are in the process of using them to develop jams and juices.

Miss Marisa said the company has held a series of workshops in the four provinces it had visited to empower rural communities.

“Our workshops are held all year round, as and when seasonal fruits are available. Right now we are in the mango season and probably over 50 percent of the mangoes that can be harvested will be lost in the value chain through post-harvest losses,” she said.

“We have decided to teach our local food enthusiasts and also include the Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association to teach people how they can process mangoes into value-added products.”

Ms Marisa said during the workshop they will use basic processing machinery to help develop food entrepreneurs within local communities.

She said they intend to impart knowledge with participants on how to process mango juice and concentrate, jam, salsa, chutney, ice cream, sorbet and dried fruit.

chronicle