Pure Oil scales capacity to 100 pc

Business Reporter —
Pure Oil Industries (Pvt) Ltd, the manufacturers of ZimGold cooking oil, has scaled up production to an estimated 100 percent as local demand continues to grow.

Statutory Instrument (SI)64 of 2016 has effectively warded off competition from regional suppliers. Pure Oil’s head of operations Mr Rod Musiyiwa said the company is now employing close to 400 employees since it is now producing about seven million litres of the product monthly.

“The company has enjoyed near full capacity utilisation of their oil refinery for close to a year thereby ensuring availability of cooking oil in the market with their ZimGold cooking oil brand widely distributed throughout the country.

“The cooking oil sector is one of the early beneficiaries of Government’s initiatives to unlock value in the manufacturing sector,” said Mr Musiyiwa.

He noted that the company now consciously balances the need to automate and also create employment.

Accordingly, there are sections of the manufacturing plant where the company has not needlessly automated.

The oil expressing sector is considered one of the success stories of Government’s drive to promote both value addition and local production.

Apart from creating more than 400 jobs directly, Pure Oil has managed to create 1000 indirect jobs over the last three years.

It is largely expected that the envisaged expansion plans, which will see the company expanding its product lines, will further add more jobs.

Added Mr Musiyiwa: “During the tour (by Vice President Mnangagwa), the company indicated that they were putting final touches to a soap production facility and expected to commence production in the not too distant future.

“The company also disclosed that they were actively exploring investing into a baker’s fat and margarine plant, thereby becoming an integrated oil extraction and processing company.”

Pure Oil was formed in 2013.

It is 40 percent owned by NatFoods while the Export Trading Group Tanzania and Parrogate Zimbabwe hold a combined 60 percent stake.

In fact, National Foods acquired a 40 percent stake in the company on April 24 2016 for US$2,4 million.