Moldon
Taking the Brand Forward As first-hand experts in the food and drink industry, Moldon continues to actively involve itself in the market in order to gain brand exposure and build a reputation for quality and efficiency Writer: Emily JarvisProject Manager: Josh Hyland Changing needs across the food and drink industry have depicted Moldon’s business strategy over the years, shifting from a steady bottle collection service for one of the leading manufacturers of alcohol in Zimbabwe, to a one-stop shop for distributors and end users in the foodservice industry in the country with more than 5,000 product lines available. Taking on virtually every aspect of the industry over the course of the past four years, General Manager Karl Klein is proud to say that Moldon now has solid foundations from which to grow its market presence: “We have shown the courage to invest and are looking to take on board more brands and product lines to get the Moldon name out there through our marketing focus.“The company is continually approached by organisations who want us to provide distribution services for them,” he says.The bottle collection service turned into collection and delivery, and then through prospering relationships with the distilleries, Moldon began to import and distribute popular alcoholic beverages such as Savanna & Hunters. “We built up a portfolio of beverage products and decided to buy into the food industry as well, starting with Liberty Foods. Now, we work with some of the biggest international brands such as Unilever, Carte D’or, Knorr, Kelloggs, Tiger Brands and since 2014, Nestlé. Eventually, we took…
Kenblest Group
The Right Ingredients for Success Business has remained steady for Kenblest over the past year and the increased capacities from replacing its ovens and machinery are sure to encourage future growth in the Kenyan market Writer: Emily JarvisProject Manager: Callum Philp With an extensive family-orientated company history, Kenblest has seen rapid expansion in recent years thanks to its investments in high quality machinery that allows for increased capacities, timely product delivery and generating added value through the use of local suppliers.With roots tracing back to 1937, the incorporation of ‘Shah Kanji Ladha and Company’ in Thika, Kenya, by Kanji Ladha Shah marked the beginning of the company footprint in the country. The shop located in the centre of Thika town, traded in textiles and general goods. Mayur Mohanlal Shah joined in 1981, having graduated as a pharmacist from John Moore University and completed a Diploma in Baking in the United Kingdom.Given the company’s initial experience of baking and the Kenyan market, the directors identified a large gap in the industry for good quality bread; and so plans were drawn up to expand into the bakery industry, resulting in the incorporation of Kenblest Limited. In August 1982, the Kenblest bakery was commissioned with the prime objective to manufacture and deliver good quality and affordable bread to Kenyan consumers.Since this time, the company has focused heavily on combining international business practices into the inner workings of Kenblest bakery. Through dedication and hard work, coupled with strong business acumen, Kenblest flourished and within four years the bakery expanded its capacity from 80,000…
Coca-Cola Sabco Mozambique : Becoming World-Class Together
With an estimated consumer base of 24 million people in Mozambique, Coca-Cola Sabco has been increasing production capabilities nationwide by stabilising its distribution network and investing in state-of-the-art equipment.
Africa’s Big Seven: Following Urban Africans Supermarket Trends
Africa's Big Seven (AB7) is the biggest food and beverage trade exhibition on the continent, creating opportunities for a wide selection of companies
Unilever Food Solutions : Catering for Changing Tastes
Backed by a team of dedicated staff, Unilever Food Solutions aim to deliver high quality products and service excellence to remain a market leader in the food industry.
Coast Millers
Bigger Leads to Better Following Tanzanian Expansion One year on and with a vast increase in capacity in place, Coast Millers has turned its attentions towards adding value to its products Writer: Matthew StaffProject Manager: Callum Philp Coast Millers enjoyed one of its most proactive years to date in 2014 as it laid the groundwork for a more prosperous future. Now, in 2015, the company is already reaping the rewards of its efforts.Increasing capacity was the main aim one year ago, enhancing not only storage space from 12,000 to 28,000 metric tonnes, but also its milling capabilities from 160 metric tonnes a day, to almost 300 metric tonnes.“The increase in capacity and investments were made as a result of our success in increasing turnover, and wanting to build this extra capacity to meet current demands and to further enhance future sales,” recalls the company’s Director and General Manager, Rahul Aggarwal.The investments not only made Coast Millers’ operations bigger, but also better, through an aligning upgrade of all machinery and technologies; playing a pivotal role in the company’s strategic expansion plan as it moves into 2015. Increased distributionWith the internal infrastructure now in place, the platform is there for Coast Millers to provide more of its wheat flour based products than ever before, so to compliment that, the company has invested much of its efforts in recent months into expanding its distribution channels.Previously operating across isolated, more urbanised areas of Tanzania, the business has now branched out to more ruralised and peripheral areas of the country.“With the increased capacity we have…
Lusitania Food Products
Positive thinking produces positive results Lusitania Food Products continues to increase and diversify its range of products to complement its equally flexible supply chain management strategyWriter Matthew Staff Project Manager Ben Wigger Lusitania Food Products is taking its ‘can-do’ attitude to a wider footprint than ever before as it continues to expand a business which has grown year-on-year in the southern African region since 1997. Bought by East London-based entrepreneur, Tony Cotterell more than 25 years ago, Lusitania Food Products started as a seafood wholesaler and has subsequently expanded its vast portfolio of products to become one of largest national frozen and chilled distributors in South Africa; comprising more than 1,000 lines of branded frozen meat and chicken products, vegetables and dairy goods under its remit. Adding desserts, pastries and cakes to the ever-growing list of offerings to the hospitality sector, Lusitania is now fully equipped to maintain its regional rise, and revenue growth targets, as Branch Manager, Lorette Kotze explains: “With a portfolio of over 1,000 products from a range of suppliers we are able to deliver quality products at competitive prices five days a week in the major cities and weekly in the outer lying areas. “Our growth in the last two years has been above market expectation, and with branches in Johannesburg, Durban & Cape Town, we have a wellestablished footprint in the sector.” A ‘can-do’ Approach Growth has traditionally been achieved within Lusitania via a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions of new customers and distributorships, building upon its extensive range…
Villa Crop Protection
Dedicated crop protection Villa CP has focused on the development and registration of "unique commodity" crop protection products, primarily aimed at meeting the specific needs of farmers in South Africa Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Callum Philp Since establishment in 1994, Villa CP has focused on the development and registration of "unique commodity" crop protection products, aimed primarily at meeting the specific needs of farmers in South Africa. The strategic direction of Villa CP is underpinned by a huge annual investment in product research and development. With a dedicated team that strive to be innovative in everything that they do, coupled with the mission to be customer centric and provide rapid response times for customers, the company "endeavour to help customers with all types of enquiries and needs," André Schreuder, Managing Director of Villa CP proudly says. Villa CP is based in Johannesburg, with a product formulation facility (Fountain Chemicals) located approximately halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria. The regional head office and warehousing facility is located just outside of Cape Town, in order to better serve the Cape market. Sustainable Investments With the establishment of their own formulation facility three years ago, Fountain Chemicals joined the Villa Crop Protection/Exportos group as a manufacturing facility for the group and other interested parties in 2011. A new additional formulation plant for fungicide and insecticides (EC, EW, SC) has since been commissioned in June 2014, as part of a major refurbishment programme to upgrade the facility to meet international ISO standards. "Our ability to develop these unique product mixes…
Vital Products Ltd
Vital Players in the Food Industry With new methods of food preservation, Vital Products aim to help lower the costs of consumer products in the open market Writers Emily Jarvis Project Manager Callum Philp Vital Products became operational in 1999 and was nurtured by a vision that saw Nigeria as the future to strong economic growth in Africa. Being abundantly blessed with agricultural products and enormous human and material resources, the country needed an opportunity to showcase its strength and potentials in the area of food production as a major export base aside from its major economic resource, oil. As a result of the long-term focus, persistent belief and faith invested in the country and its potentials by the pioneering founders of the company and willing investors based in the UK, Vital Products Ltd was born. Today, the company looks back with a sense of pride and accomplishment at their achievements, as the leading provider of consumer healthcare and food products in Nigeria. Boasting extensive business experience that spans over two decades, the company has gradually etched itself into the Nigerian foods and beverages market by maintaining quality control backed by some of the best technologies used throughout its operations. From a consumer and healthcare products company distributing only pharmaceutical products, the company has recently forayed into the manufacture and distribution of high quality fruit juices and non alcoholic beverages. In the community in which they are located, Vital Products continually strive to be a responsible corporate citizen. "In line with our corporate values of care,…
Daily Need Group
A Friend in Need For over 44 years, the Daily-Need Group have manufactured high quality products for the Nigerian consumer market Writers Matt Bone Project Manager Callum Philp The Daily-Need group (DNG) began life as Daily-Need Chemist, the brainchild of Dr. Matthew Oyin Jolayemi, in 1970. After two years of trading, the manufacturing of cosmetics started in Surulere and their first product, Paulina Beauty Cream, was created on the 19th November 1972; whilst pharmaceuticals were added the following year. The foray into pharmaceuticals commenced with the production of Penicillin Ointment. The organisation made a giant stride in 1974 by moving into its factory which it still occupies today, and in the same year, Daily-Need Toothpaste was launched into the market for the first time which proved to be a big success. In the last six years, through company evolution and consumer research, DNG have been able to reposition themselves as a market driven establishment which is sensitive and understanding to the need of the everyday consumer. Tosin Jolayemi, Managing Director of the Daily-Need group, considers that the company's 42 years of successful operating can now be used as a springboard to propel the company into the next stage of becoming a vertically integrated and national company: "we have succeeded in having a solid foundation for future growth. The next phase in our development programme is to set up a modern factory which complies with all world Health organisation requirements. Every piece of machinery we have acquired recently has been put into motion to achieve this within…
