Online Reporter
Tapiwanashe Mangwiro, Zimpapers Business Hub
A US$25 million citrus processing plant commissioned in Beitbridge is positioning itself to become a regional export player, supplying juice to Schweppes Zimbabwe while pushing into markets across southern Africa.
The plant, run by Orangeville, was established in the border town in 2024 with an initial US$20 million outlay. A further US$5 million has since been added, and the company is now eyeing a total investment of up to US$40 million as it scales up production capacity.
Orangeville has been certified to supply Schweppes – a step the company describes as a milestone in local value addition, turning raw citrus into a finished product rather than shipping fruit out unprocessed.
Beyond juice, the plant’s processing lines extract orange essential oil for the cosmetics industry and convert citrus residue into livestock feed pellets, giving the operation two additional revenue streams beyond its core juice business.
The company employs about 350 people, some 60 percent of whom are seasonal workers tied to the citrus harvesting calendar.
Management expects that number to grow to at least 1 500 within five years, as a planned 5 000-hectare citrus estate near Beitbridge comes into production and secures the plant’s own fruit supply.
That expansion matters for the export push. Company officials say inconsistent supplies from surrounding growers – many of whom sell to higher-paying buyers – together with high transport costs, remain the biggest constraints on output.
“By bringing more fruit production in-house, alongside an expanding contract farming programme, we aim to smooth out those disruptions and give the plant more predictable volumes to work with as it builds export relationships,” the company said in a statement.
Water security has also been built into the plant’s design, with about 40 percent of its supply drawn from Zhove Dam – a hedge against Zimbabwe’s forecast dry season and the kind of climate risk that can disrupt export commitments.
Matabeleland South Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Albert Nguluvhe, toured the facility last week and said:
“Government’s role is to help the province produce enough for domestic demand and export.”
He said dry conditions forecast for the season meant investments needed also to support livestock farmers and broader food systems, and encouraged Orangeville to diversify into fodder production during dry spells.
The project is also being framed as part of a wider push to lift Matabeleland South’s contribution to national economic output, with officials linking agro-processing investment directly to strengthening the province’s ability to meet both domestic demand and export requirements.
Orangeville’s location gives it a logistical edge for that ambition. Beitbridge sits on one of southern Africa’s busiest trade corridors, linking Zimbabwe with South Africa and providing road access into wider regional markets – a factor the company is banking on as it looks to move processed citrus products beyond Zimbabwe’s borders.
The plant has not yet disclosed volumes. Orangeville says production and export figures for the current harvest will only be released once harvesting is complete, meaning the true scale of its regional ambitions will become clearer in the coming months.
For a town historically known mainly as a transit point for cross-border trade rather than manufacturing, the plant gives Beitbridge an industrial base of its own – one explicitly built with export markets, not just the domestic beverage industry, in mind.
