Zimbabwe: tomato paste plant starts operations

Sondelani Ranching has launched its USD 2 million state-of-the-art tomato processing plant for the production of tomato paste in Bulawayo.
Turning Matabeleland Green (TMG) co-director Reverend Patson Netha said the plant, which has the capacity to process 150 tonnes per day started operating last month (May 2018). He said the plant would be officially commissioned soon.
 
The USD 2 million state-of-the-art tomato processing plant

Most of the plant’s machinery was sourced from China while the other components were shipped from Italy at a cost of about USD 1 million with the total cost of setting up the factory being close to USD 2 million. “The plant […] has highly technologically components and most of its processes are also highly automated including the packaging of the paste, which is poured and sealed into 200 litre-drums under strict hygienic conditions. At the moment we are only doing paste but in the long run we hope to be producing our own tomato sauce,” said Rev Netha.

Factory manager Mr Jonathan De Jong said as part of the plant’s test run 100 tonnes of tomato paste has been produced. “This is the first time that we are running properly, so we have processed 100 tonnes now to help us test the machine and everything is going well so far . . . when it gets to full capacity it’s going to be 150 tonnes per day which is between 1.5 to 2 hectares of tomatoes required every day,” said Mr De Jong.
He said in the long run the company would consider exploring the export market as demand for tomato paste is high in the continent as well as in Asia. “The local market requires about 3 000 tonnes of tomato paste per year and that’s not difficult to satisfy. We are hoping to access the export market in the near future and by that time we will be operating six months a year. However, to access some of the markets we are waiting for the free trade area to be effected,” he said. South Africa imports about 30 000 tonnes of tomato paste annually while the other biggest importers are Democratic Republic of Congo (16 630), Angola (16 000) and Namibia (1 208).

The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) and beverages manufacturer, Schweppes Zimbabwe have long mooted setting up a similar fruit processing and canning plant at Esigodini in Matabeleland South.
The tomato processing and canning factory is a public-private partnership arrangement between Zagrinda, a company owned by Arda and Development Trust of Zimbabwe (DTZ) and a division of Schweppes Zimbabwe, Best Fruit Processors.

Some complementary data
See also our article posted on 5 July 2017:
http://www.tomatonews.com/en/zimbabwe-a-new-processing-plant_2_87.html

Source: thezimbabwedaily.com