PURE Oil Industries (Pure Oil), which manufactures the popular ZimGold cooking oil, says it is supplying nearly 47 percent of the Zimbabwean market demand due to improvements in operating efficiencies.
As demand for cooking oil in the local market grows, Pure Oil has been investing in expanding its operations to ensure an adequate and steady supply of the product.
Chief operating officer Rodreck Musiyiwa told The Financial Gazette during a tour of the company in Harare that Pure Oil was looking at expanding its existing capabilities after investing US$6 million for new projects in 2017.
“The market size being around 14 tonnes (cooking oil) a month, we meet about 47 percent of that,” Musiyiwa said.
Zimbabwe’s cooking oil manufacturers are now producing more than enough to meet domestic demand, creating opportunities for product export.
Production increase by the sector has largely been due to a government ban on imports, which targeted several products, including cooking oil.
The ban was meant to protect local industries from cheap imports while allowing local companies to resuscitate operations that had been affected by a hyperinflationary crisis that ended in 2009.
Musiyiwa told a media briefing after the tour that the company was exploring new markets for some of its products.
“We are actually doing exports, but we only export our margarine in limited quantities, but… we are aggressively looking at markets for our margarine and for our soap,” he said.
“Because of the current value chain, it’s best to sell cooking oil on the local market.”
The country’s manufacturing sector has been battling cheap foreign goods flooding the market. At one point, Zimbabwe required US$220 million annually for cooking oil imports.
Local products have fared badly against imports due to antiquated machinery and high production costs, making the local products expensive. The cooking oil industry was one of the most affected sectors, among a host of others.
Most firms, such as United Refineries, Olivine and National Foods, among others, have been retooling and stepping up efforts to regain lost market share.
Cooking oil makers have invested in contract farming, including for soya, a move that will allow them to get their raw materials straight from farmers to ensure there is an adequate supply.
The cooking oil market is expected to grow this year as the country anticipates its highest soya bean harvest in 20 years.
Like any other sector of the economy, the oil expressers have not been spared the ongoing power challenges that have increased operational costs.
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