adminFrom Lionel Depute in Masvingo
Masvingo farmers have a new local market following the installation of a $14 million Chibuku beer plant in the country’s oldest town by Delta Beverages amid reports that the company will require in excess of 59 000 tonnes of maize and 14 000 tonnes of sorghum annually at its brewery.
Speaking during a stakeholder plant tour recently, Delta Beverages official Mr Richard Rashai said demand for maize and sorghum for beer production at the new plant will be high and urged local farmers to take advantage of the new development.
He said the new plant had a capacity to produce 600 000 litres of Super Chibuku brew at a time.
“We require a lot of grain both maize and sorghum. We have the capacity to take 59 729 tonnes of maize and 14 000 tonnes of sorghum every year.
“We therefore call upon our farmers in Masvingo to take advantage of this opportunity and increase production. We are ready to buy their produce at competitive rates,” said Mr Rashai.
He said the massive investment that the company has made on the plant would bring a lot of positive changes in the province by creating employment.
Mr Rashai pointed out that while a few number of employees will be needed to operate the state-of-the-art manufacturing plant, the increase in volumes will create more opportunities at the pre and post production level.
“It is a fact that the operation requires a few number of people, say less than 10, but after production we expect more workers. This is a technically intensive job and requires specific skills and we are happy those working in the plant are from Zimbabwe.
“We do not have to import labour from outside because we have our own engineers.”
Project manager Mr Alf Mupeti appealed to Masvingo City Council to ensure that Delta Beverages wasprovided with adequate water given the high demand for the resource.
The Chibuku plant is arguably the biggest private investment in Masvingo over the past decade.
Online Reporter