By MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA –
PEMBE Flour Mills Zambia Limited has recorded more than 45 per cent drop in its production as a result of the power deficit.
Pembe Flour Mills started operations in Zambia three years ago and has since created about 500 job opportunities for the local people.
Pembe sales executive Johnny Simfukwe said load-shedding had affected the production of all the three divisions of the company.
The company manages three divisions; namely wheat and maize production, stock feed and the manufacturing of empty bags.
Mr Simfukwe said in an interview in Lusaka that as a result of the current power deficit, production had gone down by more than 45 per cent.
He said that on full capacity, the company was producing about 340 tonnes maize mill per day and 200 tonnes of wheat mill per day.
“Now we are experiencing power failure for eight hours, our production has gone down by over 45 per cent in all the three divisions. We produce about 240 tonnes of feed stock per day and this has also been affected,” he said.
Mr Simfukwe said despite the current power challenges, the company was able to meet the market demand.
He said they have introduced a number of products on the market particularly on the stock feed division.
Mr Simfukwe said their products have received overwhelming response from the public since they were introduced on the Zambian market three years ago.
Currently, the company has 5,000 agents and approved outlets across the country.
“Our high quality products and excellent services have propelled our rapid expansion to multiple locations in East Africa with plants spread across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda,” he said.
Pembe Flour Mills started operations in 1989 in Kenya and has become one of the leading manufacturers of flour and animal feeds in East Africa.
Pembe manufactures a wide range of products such as baking flour, maize meal and stock feeds.