Cairns Foods to resume exports after factory upgrade

Oliver Kazunga recently in Mutare
CAIRNS Foods Holdings plans to resume exports by next year following massive plant upgrade that is expected to see the company increasing capacity utilisation from 40 percent to 70 percent by end of the year. The holding company was placed under judicial management in 2013 before it was taken over by a new investor, Takura Capital last year. Takura Capital now controls 90 percent shareholding in Cairns.

Cairns Foods factory manager for Mutare branch Mr Tinesimbarashe Munjanja told Business Chronicle that at their peak they used to export canned fruit to Europe and Scandinavian countries.

“We used to export canned fruit like mango from here (Mutare) to Europe and Scandinavian countries.The investments that we’re doing here are meant to revive the exports. “The target is to resume exports next year,” he said in an interview last week during a tour of the company’s factory by delegates attending the just ended Buy Zimbabwe summit.

Mr Munjanja said following the commissioning of a new baked beans plant at the factory this year, the factory is now operating at 40 percent capacity and the target is to reach 70 percent by the end of the year.

Cairns Foods Mutare factory now employs 200 workers compared to the 300 it employed at its peak. Mr Munjanja said the newly installed baked beans plant that was sourced from China at a cost of $200,000 has a capacity to produce 105,000 tins of Cashel Valley Baked Bins per day.

This means that the company will require 3,000 tonnes of dry beans. As part of resuscitating operations at the Mutare factory, Mr Munjanja said the company is considering sourcing a new jam manufacturing plant from China, France or Italy.

“Right now we’re at the quotation stage,” he said. To boost the factory’s capacity, Mr Munjanja said they have also contracted local farmers to grow white pea beans.

“At the moment, we have about 700 hectares being put under white pea beans and this is not sufficient and thus we’ve come up with an out growers’ scheme where we’ve contracted local farmers to grow the crop. We’re also importing white pea beans from Malawi and Ethiopia.”

Under the revival plan, Takura Capital will invest $7 million into Cairns Foods.