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Zimbabwe peanut butter boss: Getting into supermarkets was the biggest battle

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Nobukhosi Ndlovu launched Nutrie Foods in July 2013 in Harare, Zimbabwe.

At the time, she was employed as an HR consultant and had a few small businesses on the side, but she always had a dream of commercialising the production of the peanut butter her mom had made at home in the rural community of Zhombe.

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Today, the company manufactures peanut butter, mixed fruit jam and marmalade.

It also packages honey, sugar beans, soya chunks and rice under its brand, which is sold in various supermarkets and smaller local stores in the country. 

Jeanette Clark speaks to Ndlovu about the challenge of getting consumer packaged goods on supermarket shelves and the growing demand for healthier food. 

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No finance, no equipment

Ndlovu’s first hurdle was securing the finance needed for the equipment required to produce peanut butter on a commercial scale.

“I did the research and determined I would need equipment to the tune of US$20,000,” she explains.

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And so, the knocking on doors began but traditional banks had no good news for her; they required collateral that she did not have.

Finally, a friend referred her to a microfinance institution co-founded by two Zimbabwean women and Ndlovu set off to secure an appointment.

On day one, however, she was blocked by the gatekeeping receptionist.

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Undeterred, she returned the next day and her spirited and loud debate with the same receptionist got the attention of the CEO, who was in the building.

“She asked that the receptionist let me in and, armed with my business plan that outlined the funding required for the equipment, which could then be used as collateral for the payments, I got the loan,” says Ndlovu.

Nutrie Foods moved its operations into a small rented warehouse in Willowvale, an industrial suburb in Harare, that had three-phase electricity to run the equipment.

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“In the beginning, I was everything in that business. I sold my car and bought a small delivery van.

“In the morning, I would buy groundnuts at the farmers’ market, then I would go to the warehouse to manufacture and bottle the peanut butter and, around 5pm, I would visit the local tuck and spaza shops to sell the product,” she recalls.

“The next day, the revenue earned from the sales would be used to repeat the routine.”

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The microfinance company noticed her diligent repayments on the loan and granted her another loan for working capital.

The headache of getting into retail stores

Ndlovu readily admits that getting her products listed was her biggest battle. (She once po sted on Facebook: “Producing a product is easy; getting it to market is death.”)

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To supply these stores, Nutrie Foods’ capacity needed to be ramped up, so for the first year, Ndlovu did not even approach the bigger supermarkets, making sure to establish the operation first.

However, once she did approach them, there were many requirements and demands.

She had to deal with requests to change her labelling and packaging and overcome the hurdle of paying a listing fee of US$2,500, capital she simply did not have as a new start-up.

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“I tried to negotiate and offered to provide the value of the listing fee in stock, but to no avail.

“When I look at it now, it was hectic and I felt like I was running around to please them but it was absolutely worth it.

“Supermarkets are where the money is made in a business where your margins are small and you have to push volumes.”

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It was only in 2018, a week before her birthday, the first big retailer gave her the news that Nutrie Foods would be listed.

“I said to myself, this is my present! I don’t need anything else!” she remembers.

Nutrie Foods products are now available in various major retail  stores such as Pick n Pay, Spar, OK and wholesalers such as N Richards.

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Boosting factory output

Ndlovu highlights another breakthrough for business growth.

In 2016, she was selected to join the Mandela Washington Fellowship as part of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).

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She spent some time in the US and got the opportunity to present her business plan in a competition.

The announcement that she was one of the winners came with the very welcome prize of a US$25,000 grant.

“That grant changed my life because I used it to empower the women who were supplying me with groundnuts.

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“I was able to obtain seed and fertiliser for them to increase production.

“At the time, we were doing about one tonne every 24 hours, and then we moved it up to three or four tonnes per shift.”

The fact that Nutrie Foods could show a successful processing facility with this increased output meant that it was able to approach banks for further loans from a stronger footing.

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“I had property, I had shown growth. I managed to get a loan and buy a new production line in 2018 that does 10 tonnes per shift and is automated,” says Ndlovu.

Currently, the plant can produce about 12,000 bottles of peanut butter per day.

Expanding the range

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Ndlovu added additional products to her line-up almost immediately after starting the business.

“When at the market to get groundnuts, I would see some of the farmers had honey to sell.

“The honey did not require much from me as I already had the peanut butter containers that I could use.”

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In the second year, Nutrie Foods simply added sugar beans when purchasing the honey and groundnuts from the farmers.

Over the years, products like jam were added, which did require a bit more value addition and processing, and in 2019, Nutrie Foods began importing Kilombero rice from Malawi  to package under its brand for sale as a premium rice product.

While the brand is still best known for its volume-seller peanut butter, it is not the company’s most profitable product.

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“It remains our fastest-moving product but honey brings in a bigger profit.

“The rice, as a premium product, also has better margins, but it is on the expensive side, whereas the peanut butter is an affordable commodity.”

According to Ndlovu, Covid-19 undoubtedly had an impact on consumer behaviour.

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Honey sales were driven up by an increase in health consciousness and an awareness of the benefit of honey and ginger for certain symptoms of the virus.

“Many people changed to healthier diets.

“They were buying peanut butter to use as a cooking alternative for oil and drinking honey in their tea,” she says.

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The trend is so pronounced that Nutrie Foods is investigating healthier grains for its product offering.

“People have stopped consuming the heavy maize meal dish of sadza.

“We are looking to add finger millet.”

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Exports and growth plans

After the purchase of the new plant in 2018, Nutrie Foods investigated the certifications required to export its products.

The advent of the pandemic in 2020 put these plans on hold for a while although Ndlovu believes it’s high time to restart that process.

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“With our natural products, I think we would have a market everywhere, but the plan is to first look towards our neighbours in the African region,” she says. – How we made it in Africa

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Victoria Falls based lawfirm donates football kits to Division Two teams

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

A Victoria Falls based law firm has donated football kits to twelve Division Two soccer players in Hwange West district in an effort to fight drugs and substance abuse among youths in the communities. 

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According to the law firm’s director Thulani Nkala, of Dube Nkala & Company Legal Practitioners, the donation aims to promote a healthy society where teenagers can engage in sports even after school. 

Division Two falls under the Zimbabwe Football Association and it comes after Division One which is also below the premier league.

“As you are all aware that drugs are causing problems in our town, we felt that we can make a difference to counter this by donating some football kits and other equipment for our youths to use as they play,” Nkala said. 

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“We hope that this will be an ongoing partnership, but for now we will only be sponsoring for this upcoming season which is about to start and we shall renew as the next seasons approach on condition that we have mutual understanding which is based on respect because we will not want a situation where teams fight each one another.”

He said apart from the kits and trophy, the teams will play for a prize money at the end of the season.

Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) Matabeleland North provincial acting chairman Clevious Ncube said the gesture will go a long way in nurturing young talents in the Division Two league, whom most of them are school going children and teenagers.

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Prosper Neshavi, provincial ZIFA board member, lamented lack of interest in football sponsorship even at national level.

He said this has been part of the reasons why the country has been kicked out of the Federation Internationale  Football Association (FIFA). 

FIFA President Giovanni Infantino last year said the association had to suspend Zimbabwe and Kenya for government interference in the activities of the football associations. 

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“They know what needs to be done for them to be readmitted or for the suspension to be lifted. “Infantino said last year. 

Meanwhile, as part of efforts to introduce sports tourism in Victoria Falls, tourism operators and other sports officials have joined hands to form a committee that will spearhead the allocation of land by the Victoria Falls City Council for sporting activities such as the football, tennis, boxing and rugby among other sporting disciples. 

This was revealed by the committee chairperson Mthabisi Ncube who lamented lack of sporting facilities in the city. 

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He revealed that through their negotiations with the council, a certain portion of land has been set aside for the project. 

 

Their end goal is to see the town hosting local and international teams, which will inturn boost the country’s tourism GDP. 

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“As we say that we are the tourism capital of Zimbabwe and possibly the better capital of Africa and we fail to have a 10 000 seater stadium,” he said. 

“We can not fail to host training matches such as the rugby, football where teams such as the Kaizer Chiefs Football Club can decide to come to Victoria Falls as they prepare ahead of the season, so their coming will help us a lot because all the businesses from accomodation to the salons and vegetable vendors will benefit from their presence, but it cannot happen when we do not have the facilities. 

“Our vision is to have a complex where we can host international games, international meetings for cricket, rugby, tennis. We want to be like what Capetown (South Africa) does where they have no free weekend in arts and sporting activities.”

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Gaseous coal substances exposes Hwange residents to TB

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

In the scorching sun, Litha Ncube and her nine-year-old daughter are armed with hoes and shovels as they make way to a dumpsite to scavenge for a precious by-product of coal, coke.

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The poverty-stricken widow from Hwange’s Madumabisa Village says she has no option but to scrounge for the product in a life-threatening environment that has claimed the lives of many. This is her only means of survival. 

As she digs the dumpsite without any Personal Protective Clothing (PPE) such as the surgical mask, her daughter’s task is to pick and separate the coke from the chaff and fill a 50-kilogramme sack. This quantity of coke fetches US$5, which she says helps to sustain her family.

Her husband died at the height of Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 after he was diagnosed with Tubercolosis (TB) which he  contracted due to inhaling of coal dust at the same dumpsite. 

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Ncube was also diagnosed and it took her over 12 months to fully recover. 

“If I stop, who will support my children?” Ncube quizzes as she continues to dig. 

 

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Ncube is among the many women in Hwange who have resorted to trespassing into the Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) dumpsite in search of coke, which they resell to make ends meet.

TB is one of the leading causes of death in Zimbabwe. 

According to Community Working Group on Health, about 6 300 Zimbabweans die of TB each year despite it being preventable and curable.

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The African region has the second-highest tuberculosis burden worldwide, after Southeast Asia. under the World Health Organisation End Tuberculosis Strategy, countries should aim to reduce TB cases by 80% and cut deaths by 90% by 2030 compared with 2015.

According to National Mine Workers Union of Zimbabwe president Kurebwa Javangwe Nomboka, gaseous substances from coal dusts have left many Hwange villagers and residents exposed to TB, although many are not documented. 

‘The prevalence of TB is very high, but undocumented in the areas we have done programs which are around the mining community of Hwange,” Nomboka told VicFallsLive

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“Coal is the commonly mined mineral in the area  and is well known for its combustible nature and the emission of dangerous poisonous gases.”

Nomboka says apart from residents such as Ncube, the scourge is higher in the mining companies, largely Chinese owned. 

He says the mostly affected are underground miners and even those involved in the processing of coal to coking coke.

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” Examples of areas with a high risk of TB which my team have visited are HC, Hwange Coal Gasification and South Mining,” he revealed. 

“The environment in these mines is heavily embroidered or engulfed with coal dust and gaseous substances which causes a high risk of TB and other related diseases like Pneumoconiosis.” 

These heavy dusts and gaseous substances, Nomboka says are also evident in the residential areas and thus posing a risk to the families of miners.

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” At Hwange  Coal  Gasification at times the whole complex is engulfed with gaseous substances to an extent that you won’t even be in a position to see buildings or people around you,” 

“Besides the dust and gaseous substances there is immense heat that comes out from the furnaces and the personnel working such under environments are spotted with improper and inadequate PPEs and the issue  in these mines has become of lesser priority as it is only acquired when we raise a red flag as a union.”

Nomboka said the PPEs being acquired does not meet the standard required under the Mining industry safety regulations leaving workers vulnerable to contracting TB and other related diseases.  

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” As a trade union we have reigned in on these defaulting companies to comply with the mining safety regulations and those found not to be in compliance with the regulations have had to be litigated against in order for them to comply,” Nomboka revealed. 

“The country needs to adopt stern measures on those who fail to comply with mining safety regulations by enacting laws which provide for hefty fines for companies who fail to provide safety nets for their employees and proper and adequate protective clothing.”

 

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Engage communities in TB planning, Government urged

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) has called on the government to engage communities in planning and implementing  of strong, integrated Tubercolosis (TB) mitigation as part of response measure, amid revelations that over 6 000 Zimbabweans succumb to the pulmonary disease every year. 

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The call was made by CWGH, a health watch organisation executive director Itai Rusike ahead of the World TB Day commemorations.

Rusike said although there has been some efforts made towards ending TB, a killer disease and highlighting further action that is needed to defeat the life-threatening disease, communities should be part of the action. 

“TB remains a major obstacle to attaining the SDG vision of health, development, and prosperity for all in Zimbabwe,”Rusike told VicFallsLive.

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“Our country has an estimated 21 000 new cases of TB each year, and 3.1% of these are drug resistant. 

” 6300 Zimbabweans die of TB each year despite it being preventable and curable.”

According to health activists, most of these are recorded in mining towns and communities where there is no adequate Personal Protective Equipment. 

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Rusike also called for more scientific research and funding towards eradication of pulmonary disease including the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“Funding for research on TB in Zimbabwe is minimal, and new tools to prevent, diagnose, and treat TB are urgently required,” he said.

“There is an opportunity to leverage Covid-19 infrastructure and investments to improve the TB response, integrate TB and Covid-19 testing and tracing, and strengthen efforts to overcome the barriers that people continue to face when accessing TB services.”

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According to studies,  the advent of Covid-19, three years ago eliminated 12 years of progress in the Global Fight against TB as governments, due to its response to the pandemic pushed aside TB outreach and services, resulting in a 20% drop in diagnosis and treatment worldwide.

“This World TB Day 2023 (March 24) we emphasize that “Yes! We can end TB” – aims to inspire hope and encourage high-level leadership, increased investments, faster uptake of new World Health Organisation recommendations, adoption of innovation, accelerated action and multisectoral collaboration to combat the TB epidemic,”Rusike said.

“It is time for the government to fulfill its commitments towards defeating TB. 

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“The government should engage communities in planning and implementing strong, integrated TB and Covid-19 mitigation and response measures.” 

 In addition, he said, there is need to increase financing for TB prevention and care, innovations in care delivery, and research and development, including for new TB vaccines to prevent the development of Drug Resistant TB. 

” The theme brings attention to tuberculosis (TB) and our collective power to end TB by 2030 and therefore reach the SDG goals,” he added.

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“It brings hope and builds on the amazing work done in 2022 by Zimbabwe as one of the TB High Burden Countries to recover from the impact of Covid -19 while ensuring access to TB treatment and prevention.

” It is time to take urgent action to get back on track and accelerate collective efforts to fulfill the 2022 United Nations targets on TB to defeat the disease and save lives.

“The commitments made, and targets set by Heads of State and other leaders to accelerate action to end TB must be kept even in Covid-19 crisis and should be backed by adequate investments (and) this will help to protect the lives of thousands of peoplesuffering from TB and to prevent further loss of gains made in the fight against TB.

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” Not one more person should die from TB because it is a preventable and treatable disease.” 

 

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