After spending close to US$160 million on expansion since 2021, Innscor says it will now focus on making the investment deliver.
Innscor has built new factories and expanded production capacity at its divisions, with the largest investment going into National Foods, the country’s biggest food manufacturer.
“The extensive capital expansion programme, which has totalled US$125 million in the past two financial years, combined with a further US$32 million during the period under review, is reaching a mature state, and there will be extreme focus to ensure that the funds deployed into these investments generate the requisite returns,” Innscor says in its latest financial report.
Innscor’s investment projects have included a new US$22 million factory in Bulawayo – which will help Bakers Inn dominate the country’s southern provinces – and US$32 million worth of growth projects at Natfoods.
At Natfoods, Innscor has invested in a new flour mill in Bulawayo, built a new pasta and biscuit line in Harare, and invested in a new breakfast cereal range, NutriActive. The new pasta plant uses local wheat contracted by Natfoods.
“The (pasta) plant is the first ever large-scale pasta line to have been commissioned in Zimbabwe, localising production of this growing category, as well as value-adding local wheat,” says Innscor. Natfoods is the biggest private wheat contractor. It bought 60,000 tonnes of wheat in the past season.
The company also expects to commission a new biscuit plant in the current quarter. “The new plant will result in an exciting new range of biscuits being launched into the market.”
The benefits are already showing in some segments. At Mafuro Farming, raw milk production grew 76% in the six months to December, after the division opened a new dairy facility near Kwekwe. The Bulawayo factory has reached full capacity, increasing bread production, while the company has also further automated its Harare operations to increase efficiency.
According to Natfoods: “The key focus for management in the period ahead will be to ensure that our recent investments perform to expectation.”
Source: NewZwire
