The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Business Reporter
THE country’s second largest tomato paste producer, Hamara Tomato Processing Plant is making concerted efforts to start exports into the region as it forges ahead to expand production and increase its sales potential.
Hamara head of marketing and public relations Mr Clarence Mutangara said final touches to the US$2,2 million state-of-the-art tomato plant in Bulawayo to meet international standards were almost done.
“We knew that we have something viable and tangible and since then up to now, what we have had to do is to complete the construction of the project, which is continuous investment. This year we are aiming to do US$400 000 worth of investment, which should give us tip-top world class standards.
“What we are doing in tandem is bringing the plant up to export standards while building the pool of farmers who would be able to produce then, now we can go gun blazing, we need as many tomatoes as we can from Matabeleland farmers. By the second half of the year we should be able to run full stream at full capacity,” he said.
The plant, located in Bulawayo, is the country’s second tomato paste plant after the one operated by Schweppes Zimbabwe in partnership with the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) in Norton. Hamara Tomato Processing plant, which is an initiative of Sondelani Ranch, an agro-processing business run by the Cunningham family was officially opened by President Mnangagwa in September 2018. Notwithstanding the fact that infrastructural development at the plant is still on-going, production started after the installation of major machinery components.
The project is meant to operate twice at a total of six months a year. However, last year it failed to attain a complete cycle due to the ever-escalating price of inputs to fund farmers contracted under its tomato outgrowers’ scheme run by the company’s agricultural produce unit, Turning Matabeleland Green.
“We didn’t manage to do the whole cycle last year. We only did half the cycle when there was still a bit of fair stability in the economy and it was only the second half of the year when we were now preparing for the last cycle of the year last year, the prices ran away. We were supposed to fix the prices and guarantee the farmers. So, we didn’t want farmers to get started because the prices kept on moving and we weren’t sure that we would be able to make money as a plant and definitely that would then affect what we will be able to pay the farmers. Last year we didn’t, beginning of this year as well it’s unlikely that we are going to and we are actually planning for the next one, which is for the second half of the year,” said Mr Mutangara.
About 100 farmers are contracted to produce tomatoes for the plant, which has capacity of processing 150 tonnes a day.
“Ideally we need to try and make numbers of those farmers that are able to self-finance because it’s a cheaper load on us, if possible small-scale farmers,” said Mr Mutangara.
He said the company had started receiving export enquiries from a number of countries in the region.
“We already have export enquiries from Namibia, Malawi and Angola. Zimbabwe used to be the bread basket of Southern Africa and once people hear that there is a (tomato) processing plant in Matabeleland, you start getting enquiries because people like locking in some orders and guarantee their supplies wherever they are in the world. As an entity we have exported before, the company was built on ostrich exports, so we have got a lot of experience along those lines,” Mr Mutangara.
He further noted that exporting would not only generate revenue for the company but would be an added incentive to the farmers.
“The aim is absolutely to export because that’s where the farmers really get real value. We are working on certifications to make sure that when we do start benefiting from exports, the fair play rules come into play and farmers also benefit from that. It’s actually an incentive where farmers know that if we are producing for the plant, we can potentially access a source of forex in the future,” said Mr Mutangara.
Last year, the company introduced its own brand of tomato sauce, the Hamara Tomato Sauce, which was marketed at its retail outlets as part of its Research and Development Project.
