WATCH: National Foods CEO Mike Lashbrook lauds “excellent” Government support, says upgraded capacity driving volume growth

National Foods Holdings Limited chief executive officer, Mr Mike Lashbrook

FOLLOWING the commissioning of three new production plants by President Mnangagwa in Harare in May last year, National Foods Holdings Limited chief executive officer, Mr Mike Lashbrook, says the company is enjoying higher aggregate volume growth due to expanded capacity, which has positioned the business to substitute imports while taping into exports.

President Mnangagwa led the commissioning of the new Pasta, Biscuit, and Cereal plants under a combined US$22.7 million investment. The significant investment represented a bold step toward enhancing the company’s offerings and advancing up the value chain in food production.

In an exclusive interview with Zimpapers on the sidelines of the ongoing Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) 2026 in Bulawayo, Mr Lashbrook applauded enhanced Government support under the Second Republic and re-affirmed the company’s commitment to playing a key role in ensuring that Zimbabwe achieves food security, grow the economy and create jobs in line with Government’s Vision 2030.

“If you look at our aggregate volume growth over the last five years, maybe around 30-35 percent. We’re seeing decent growth in our overall volumes,” said Mr Lashbrook.

“Well, I would say in general, overall Government support is excellent. As a broader company we invest heavily into corporate farming. We’re investing through the value chain to try and assist in the growth of local agriculture,” he said.

“We’ve seen, you would have seen the statistics, local agriculture is growing quite robustly, which is healthy. We’re looking forward to further growth.
“You know, we’ve got big ambitions to value add furthermore. Pasta and biscuits are value-adding locally made flour, which is from local wheat,” he added.
“So, simplistically, we’re saying, why should we import finished product of pasta and pasta is basically flour and water. Let’s produce it locally. Let’s grow the wheat locally, mill it into flour and produce the pasta here. This is very interesting.”

The newly established facilities, which embodied a combined investment of $22.7 million, formed part of a larger $50 million capital investment strategy implemented over the past five years.

The development not only underscored National Foods’ commitment to innovation but also bolstered local agriculture by increasing the market for locally grown maize, wheat, and soya beans.

. . . More to follow . . .