Bokomo’s new plant to increase output
Local Fast moving consumer goods manufacturer and distributer, Bokomo Botswana announced that its new milling plant would improve their production capacity by over five percent. Chief Executive Officer, Werner de Beer said through the upgrade, Bokomo can continue to provide quality products at increased quantities. “This for us is a significant step in the right direction as we are now better placed to meet demand of our products. The efficiencies unlocked by this upgrade will culminate in improved productivity, which will reduce cost pressures that will in the long run lead to price savings for the end consumer,” said De Beer. The company invested P3 million on the refurbishment of the plant. De Beer told Business Trends that currently the company produces over 7 000 tonnes of maize meal and 3 000 tonnes of flour per month. The company distributes more than 849 consumer products in Botswana and currently manufacturers white star maize meal, Bokomo special maize meal, samp and maize rice among other products. With the high production capacity, De Beer said they source most of the raw materials from South Africa and other countries, as local produce is not enough for their production. “We have a policy to supply local farmers but unfortunately they can only provide six percent of our demand. Currently, we buy from Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) but it is not sufficient so we import most of our maize and wheat,” he told Business Trends. Bokomo Botswana Operations Manager, Jaco Venter said the mill upgrade would have a significant positive impact on the operations. “This upgrade will result in enhanced performance of our plant as we are now confidently able to work with larger quantities at an efficient pace and will enable us to increase our contribution to the supply and demand chains within the country,” he said. Recently the company was awarded the ISO 901:2015 certificate by Botswana Bureau of Standards. De Beer highlighted that they continuously strive for excellence in their production. “It is therefore a proud achievement to have been certified as compliant with international standards of quality. This award has given us the confidence to do more as well as afforded our customers the assurance that Bokomo products are of the highest quality,” noted De Beer.