ALPHA and Omega, a subsidiary of Gushungo Holdings, has plans to increase output at its beverage-making unit by 40 times to 200 000 litres per day due to growing export and domestic demand, a company official has said.
Tarisai Mandizha
Speaking to NewsDay at the Harare Agriculture Show on Monday, Alpha and Omega assistant general manager Joseph Zirebwa said the company wants to increase production of its new beverage, Moojoos, by year end. “Our production capacity and demand is not working hand in hand for Moojoos. We produce 5 000 litres daily that cannot cover the whole nation,” Zirebwa said. Gushungo Holdings is an empire owned by President Robert Mugabe and his family. Zirebwa said the company had plans to increase capacity for all its product mix and was working towards the introduction of ice creams to augment the product line. “Competition is trembling, but the issue is that we don’t have sufficient milk products in the country. We are having lots of exports, so what we produce goes to the market,” he said. According to the mid-term policy statement announced last month, former Finance minister Tendai Biti revised the country’s dairy output to 76,3 million litres in 2013, up from an initial target of 70 million litres, although the figure still falls short of the national demand of 96 million litres per annum as the agriculture sector continues on a down path. Official figures show that the national dairy herd currently stands at 26 000 cows with 223 registered dairy operators. Zirebwa also said the company had plans to venture into biogas to produce electricity. “We are thinking of venturing into biogas to use all of our manure to convert to energy so that we will be able to sell (power) to all the people in Mazowe,” he said. Alpha and Omega employs 500 workers — produces about 300 000 litres of raw milk and 70 000 litres of yoghurt monthly.
