ZIMBABWE – National foods (Nat Foods), one of the largest food processing companies, in Zimbabwe, is bolstering its presence in the breakfast cereal category with a US$7 million investment in a new facility.

According to William Kapfupi, National Foods managing executive, cereals unit, the new facility will broaden National Foods’ product range, cut the country’s reliance on imports and consolidate its dominance on the local market.

Kapfupi revealed this while overseeing the launch of five new cereal variants including Pearlenta NutriActive cornflakes, bran flakes, and two instant cereals.

The product are set to enter the market soon to complement the already dominant “Pearlenta NutriActive” instant maize porridge.

The company is already enjoying a dominant market for Pearlenta NutriActive instant maize porridge which is at 50% market share locally and is expected to grow to 60% with the new range of cereal products.

The new products will therefore complement the existing products, the Pearlenta NutriActive instant maize meal, which drove the company’s volume in the cereals segment to grow by 35% in the 2022 financial year.

In his presentation, Mr. Kapfupi said that the US$7 million investment, is not only for the five products but more products are set to be launched next year.

He revealed that the company plans to launch a baby food product next year, emphasizing that the brand will be nutritionally relevant for local babies.

The company is also motivated by the low cost of cereals in the market hence the possibility of bringing high-quality cereals at an affordable price which will also reflect to the retail cost of our products, according to Nomagugu Moyo, Natfoods sales and marketing manager.

Currently, the company only exports Pearlenta NutriActive instant porridge but the Cereals unit managing executive was confident that his company will start the export of other products soon.

Mr. Kapfupi says he is confident that the company products can compete both locally and in the region and expects that the new products will start filtering in the regional market by January 2023.

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