ZIMBABWE – Innscor Africa’s poultry segment, Irvine has opened a one-stop farm-fresh shop designed to cater for the growing demand for poultry products in Zimbabwe.
The farm-fresh walk-in shop, located at the Derbyshire Farm in Waterfalls, will cater for a cross section of customers; wholesalers to individuals who want to buy for household consumption.
Before the opening of the one-stop-shop, Irvine’s ran a small stall, but a surge in demand for the company’s products saw the kiosk being overwhelmed by swelling demand for poultry products.
“This is a one-stop farm fresh shop where customers have access to an assortment of Irvine’s products to choose from.
“Whether one wants fresh eggs, day-old chicks, fresh eggs, sausages, or chickens for consumption, everything is being provided under one roof,” commercial director Anele Zunga said.
Irvine’s is the biggest poultry and poultry products producer, distributor, and marketer in Zimbabwe and sub-Saharan Africa at large. Among its products are day-old chicks, eggs, broilers, layers, whole birds, and other chicken products.
The one-stop-shop is segmented into retail and wholesale departments to provide for the diverse customers’ needs.
“We made the shop big to avoid people queuing and crowding at the shop in line with Covid-19 requirements,” said Mr Zunga.
Chicken meat remains a more affordable source of protein compared to other meats in Zimbabwe.
Irvine’s have been producing chickens in Southern Africa since the 1950s and the company has grown to produce over 1.5-million-day-old chicks per week across Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Botswana.
As a regional processor, marketer, and distributor of poultry and poultry products, Irvine’s Zimbabwe says it perpetually endeavours to ensure that poultry and poultry products intended for human consumption are produced in a manner that eliminates food hazards that may infringe on the health of consumers.
The launch of the farm-fresh shop comes on the backdrop of Covid-19 induced lockdowns, which affected volumes uptake across most of the productive sectors of the economy.
Poultry output declined in 2020 due to high cost and low availability of feeds, low demand and disruptions in the supply of breeding stock.
Production of day-old chicks decreased by 2.5% in 2020 from 73.4 million in 2019 to 71.4 million last year, resulting in a drop in meat output by 2.45%.
However, Zimbabwe’s poultry industry can expect growth of 5% this year, supported by improved availability of stock feeds following an increase in production of maize and soyabeans.
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