ZIMBABWE – Amandla Brands, a local food processing start-up, has unveiled plans of introducing new products range capitalising on convenience in its ambitions of exploring new markets.

The company’s managing director, Sympathy Sibanda-Mazuruse, said that the Amandla will also focus on healthy product innovations as part of its expansion strategy, reports NewsDay.

“Our trademark registration allows us to produce around 50 products under the Amandla Brands range and we are producing a traveller’s pack which would include snack bars with chocolate, peanut butter healthy sachets, dried nuts as well as salted giant nuts,” she added.

Amandla, especially through its flagship Amandla peanut butter, said that it is engaging hotels, transport and other service providers as they push the traveller’s pack concept.

“We strongly feel the traveller’s pack has got a ready market in hotels, restaurants as well in homes, especially for those wanting to carry packed lunch to work or school,” Sibanda-Mazuruse noted.

Amandla Brands was established in April 2018 in the Zimbabwe’s food production and processing industry as a subsidiary of Esteem Communications.

Sibanda-Mazuruse said that the company will mainly focus on innovations as it seeks to produce natural and healthy products designed to fight lifestyle affiliated diseases which have been on the rise in the recent past.

“We started operations in April 2018 but we have managed to get our peanut butter on the retail market and it is a favourite of foreigners from various countries like Japan, Belgium, South Africa and Netherlands.

We hope to unveil all the 50 or more products we have registered under the brand.

We believe there is no job too small for us because our vision is to grow brands and contribute to national development.” she notes.

Amandla Brands product portfolio currently consists of healthy foods including organic peanut butter, variations of nuts, brown rice and brown rice flour,

The firm has also unveiled plans of expanding its product range into production of maize-meal, salt, cooking oil, soups, peanut butter, chickens and milk among others. 

Its parent company, Esteem Communications, started operations in 2012 as a public relations, marketing and brand development firm.