. Banda
By KENNEDY MUPESENI –
LOCAL manufacturers should put more attention to packaging and branding to attract market for their products, Sylva Foods Limited managing director Sylvia Banda has said.
Ms Banda said local products had a lot of potential for both the domestic and the international market provided value had been added and made attractive.
“We have a lot of products that we can add value to and earn a lot of money within and outside the country,” she said.
Ms Banda who is a pioneer of traditional food value chain in the country, in an interview there were a lot of products which could earn a lot of money for the country if well processed and packaged.
She said exporting products in their raw form would not earn the country the required levels of revenue unlike when they were processed and well packed.
Recently Pick N Pay general manager Andy Roberts said small-scale farmers should engage in the cultivation of quality products which could be subjected to basic value-addition processes once supplied to local chain stores.
Mr Roberts said farmers should ensure they added value to agriculture products for them to be able to supply to supermarkets.
Mr Roberts assured that Pick n Pay was ready to buy from local manufacturers and farmers if they only added value to their products and produce in bulk.
