Itai Ndongwe
HARARE (FinX) – Dairibord Zimbabwe is capitalising on the growing trend of consumers seeking natural and nutritious food and beverage options by increasing production and distribution to make Ginger Pfuko available throughout the country.
This comes after the company successfully introduced the new Pfuko Ginger at the end of last year, and the product has been well welcomed by the market following the launch of a new Cascade Baobab, a dairy fruit blend with real baobab pulp.
Dairibord Holdings CEO Mercy Ndoro told FinX that, “This is a new product that we are proud of. We introduced Pfuko Ginger to buttress Pfuko’s leadership position in the category by increasing the variants and extending consumer choice. It is a line extension which we expect to bring excitement to the traditional maheu consumer.
“This product is also in line with global consumer trends of increased consumption of food and beverages with natural ingredients for their perceived health benefits. As you may have noticed, Pfuko Ginger has come soon after the launch of Cascade Baobab, a dairy fruit blend which contains real baobab pulp.”
The group is working on introducing new products this year, following the commissioning of its new US$1.5 million manufacturing plant.
“There are other new products and line extensions in the pipeline that our customers can look forward to seeing in the market as the year progresses,” she added.
During the nine months ending September 30, 2023, revenue increased by 837% compared to the same period in 2022, driven by strong volume growth across all product areas.
Due to volume growth, cumulative revenue increased by 27% to US$82.4 million in US dollars for the period under review, with 93% of sales transacted in US dollars.
Domestic sales revenue and exports increased by 870% and 1 213 percent, respectively, during the quarter.
Sales volumes for the quarter totaled 25.8 million litres, an 11% rise over the same period in 2022. Liquid milks and beverages increased by 16% and 14%, respectively, while meals decreased by 24%.
Beverages provided 65 percent, Liquid Milks 28 percent, and Foods 7 percent to the overall volume, which increased by 5%, with liquid milks increasing by 9%.
Food sales volumes fell by 23% as a result of intermittent supply disruptions of quality inputs and route-to-market disturbances, which hampered demand.
In the nine-month period, the company handled 22,4 million litres of raw milk, a 13 percent increase over the previous year’s comparative period. This was ahead of the national raw milk output increase of 10%. The volume accounted for 34% of the milk received by processors.
