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Lloyd Gumbo Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE has been ranked highly at the ongoing Milan expo 2015 in Italy, after several culinary innovations that saw queues snaking at the Zimbabwean stand, Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha told the Politburo yesterday.
The Zimbabwean delegation introduced crocodile burger, zebra burger and baobab juice that sold like hot cakes with the over 1 000 crocodile burgers going for the princely sum of 15 euros apiece being snapped up per day.
Crocodile meat is considered a delicacy and there are indications that the meat is not allowed in Italy but Zimbabwe was allowed to introduce the burger at the expo that started in May and ends at the end of this month.
In an interview after the Politburo meeting, Minister Bimha, who attended the expo last month said the Politburo appreciated the innovation that was expected to be introduced in the country.
“When the expo started, we were just an unknown African country to some people who were at the expo but in no time, we were ranked in the top six pavilions, the reason was because we introduced something unique which was the crocodile burger,” he said.
“We had an Italian company that helped us make these crocodile burgers which brought Zimbabwe to the top. It became the talk of the expo as people came in their numbers to buy.
“We didn’t end there, we also brought in zebra meat and baobab juice that saw long queues at the Zimbabwean pavilion. These things were selling like hot cakes. We got consistent coverage from the Italian press as they saw people queuing on a daily basis for these burgers and juice
“What we learnt from this experience is that innovation is the answer to any problem or challenge.” Minister Bimha said a lot of African countries that were at the expo sent spies to find out how Zimbabwe had made great strides at the expo through its dishes.
He said on Zimbabwe’s national day at the expo on August 31, the Italian Government expressed gratitude to Zimbabwe for bringing life to the expo.
The minister said there was an opportunity for Zimbabwe to capitalise on the popularity of the crocodile burger by opening outlets that sell these burgers at the country’s airports. Media reports indicate that at least 1 000 crocodile burgers were sold per day at about 15 euros each. Minister Bimha said Zimbabwean experts presented the importance of small grains such as finger millet.
Online Reporter