The Sunday News
Business Reporter
ALPHA Omega Dairy will soon introduce a number of new products as it seeks to fortify and consolidate its position as one of the country’s leading milk processing companies.
Alpha Omega Dairy boasts of state-of-the-art milking machinery used in its parlour with the ability of milking 64 cows in less than 10 minutes. It is the biggest raw milk producer in the country producing over 20 000 litres from its 1 000 cows.
The general manager, Mr Stanley Nhari, said as part of the company’s efforts to consolidate its market it had plans to introduce an array of dairy products soon.
“We are going to introduce plus or minus 10 different types of dairy products and we would not want to pre-empt them at the moment but I want to rest assure the consumers that they will get value for their money.
“However, we are going to hit the market with milk that does not require any refrigeration and we want to guarantee the consumers that this type of milk can be used by anyone who stays where there is no electricity. It has a shelf life of three months,” Mr Nhari said.
He said all of the company’s products were certified by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe. Its product line includes fresh milk, cultured milk, ice cream, yoghurt, juices and mineral water.
“All our products are certified by SAZ. We are also Halal certified to cater for the Muslim as we have inspectors based at our workplace to ensure that we comply with the requirements of Halal.
“By end of December this year we will be ISO certified 22000/1985 and we are going to be the first company to have our farm ISO certified. I am talking of the source of milk. An audit to that effect is going on as I speak,” Mr Nhari said.
Halal foods are foods that Muslims are allowed to eat or drink under Islamic law. The criteria specify both what foods are allowed, and how the food must be prepared.
The company has also set its sights on exporting its products following a number of inquiries from neighbouring countries.
“Before we came for the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair we had contacts from Angola and Zambia, coincidentally these were made by people that had tasted our products.
“They demanded that we open distribution centres in those countries because they appreciate the quality of our products but our focus is to satisfy the Zimbabwean market first before we go for the foreign market,” Mr Nhari said.
