DELTA Corporation (Delta) says it expanded its maize contract farming scheme by 150 percent to 5 000 hectares last year, which will cover more than half of the business’s needs.
The country’s biggest brewer and beverage manufacturer relies on agricultural crops to brew its beers and as sweeteners for its soft drinks.
“In Zimbabwe, we work directly with over 11 000 commercial and smallholder farmers under our contract schemes who produce over 100 percent of our barley and sorghum requirements and in 2022 we increased the maize contract from 2 000 to 5 000 hectares, which will cater for over 50 percent of the business requirement,” the company said in its 2023 annual report.
It said its contracted farmers have achieved above average yields and profitability, which demonstrates broader agricultural resilience and more sustainable food systems.
Matlhogonolo Valela
The beverages maker said Schweppes Zimbabwe is currently working with communities at Shashe in Beitbridge District on a communal orange plantation.
Meanwhile, Delta’s payments to the government in the form of taxes rose 347,97 percent to $67,25 billion for the year ended March 31, 2023 compared to $15,01 billion recorded in 2022.
Delta said a total of US$63,3 million was remitted in foreign currency.
The company indicated that it provides a sizable contribution to tax revenues that governments may use to fund public services for the benefit of their constituents.
Delta said it expects its new US$70 million capital expenditure splurge to provide growth of at least one-third across its value chains.
The investment, which was spread across the company’s different beverage sectors, was planned at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to chief executive Matlhogonolo Valela.
It has seen new equipment being installed at the sparkling beverages plant, a new Chibuku Super plant and a lager manufacturing plant in Southerton.
The company’s activities and investments’ multiplying effects along value chains act as a catalyst for national growth.
Apart from the three new projects, Delta has also installed another line at its subsidiary Afdis, bringing total investment in capital expenditure to US$70 million.