African Deli's grand plans laid bare
With a solid plan, it seems that the future is bright for Namibia's second plant that imports a raw product, adds value to it and sells it.
Born and bred in Mondesa, entrepreneur Silvanus Kathindi is on a mission to produce ready-made tripe meals for the masses, with grandiose plans to produce up to 30 million servings by 2020. He recently spoke to Namibian Sun to share the inspiration behind the idea to package tripe, or 'matangara' as it is commonly known, into ready-made meals.
“Traditional food creates the bond between the people and their respective cultures, he said. “Most of us have increasingly modernised, urbanised and have moved from our slow cooked food culture to a convenience food culture. Most current food offerings are either Western or are lacking in health attributes, or both. This has left a gap in the market for cost-effective, tasty traditional food solutions that are healthy and easy to prepare,” he said of the idea to commercialise tripe.
“It took us about five years to get where we are today from marketing research, registration of trademarks and the setting up of our fully-fledged value-add facility, which is situated in Walvis Bay,” said Kathindi reflecting on his journey to get African Deli up and running.
African Deli has thus far created 55 new jobs to positive, talented and highly energised young Namibians, of which some are graduates from the University of Namibia, the Namibia University of Science and Technology and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, according to him.
“These youngsters are eager to learn, make things happen and create efficient and simple ways of doing things right all the time,” said Kathindi.
While there may be some criticism behind his decision to import tripe from abroad, he justifies his decision saying that there is not nearly enough tripe locally that will conform to local food standards as prescribed by the Namibia Standards Institute.
“The volumes of tripe from our Namibian HACCP-certified facilities are not enough to support the economic production volumes of our facility and it is also not our intention to compete in the supply chain of our local people, especially 'the Memes that sell kapana'. We created a new market and a new product category and therefore, we also decided to create our own supply chain for our products so that all of us can co-exist,” Kathindi said.
“To put it into context, we have just started and we are currently processing 100 tonnes of tripe per month and this equates to about 11 100 cattle,” explained Kathindi.
According to him, there is no issue procuring locally as long as there are proper checks and balances in place from potential future suppliers. “In principle, we do not mind buying from our local facilities, provided they are certified,” said Kathindi.
“Our projections in terms of growth, is to produce 30 million servings by the year 2020. African Deli will grow, and therefore more jobs for Namibians will be created in the near future,” he said positively.
“We have adopted a staged market and product penetration plan and we have opted to start first at home, Namibia and thereafter moving to other SADC countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
He also reveals plans to introduce more product offerings which will appeal to lovers of delicacy foods.
“We will shortly be adding other lip-smacking flavours to the mix, including beef tripe in curry or in spicy chakalaka. Plus, our food technologists are busy developing a whole range of exciting traditional ready-meals. So, you can soon stock a full range of African family favourites that will improve your customers' shopping experience and your bottom line, so watch this space,” he concluded.
OGONE TLHAGE
“Traditional food creates the bond between the people and their respective cultures, he said. “Most of us have increasingly modernised, urbanised and have moved from our slow cooked food culture to a convenience food culture. Most current food offerings are either Western or are lacking in health attributes, or both. This has left a gap in the market for cost-effective, tasty traditional food solutions that are healthy and easy to prepare,” he said of the idea to commercialise tripe.
“It took us about five years to get where we are today from marketing research, registration of trademarks and the setting up of our fully-fledged value-add facility, which is situated in Walvis Bay,” said Kathindi reflecting on his journey to get African Deli up and running.
African Deli has thus far created 55 new jobs to positive, talented and highly energised young Namibians, of which some are graduates from the University of Namibia, the Namibia University of Science and Technology and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, according to him.
“These youngsters are eager to learn, make things happen and create efficient and simple ways of doing things right all the time,” said Kathindi.
While there may be some criticism behind his decision to import tripe from abroad, he justifies his decision saying that there is not nearly enough tripe locally that will conform to local food standards as prescribed by the Namibia Standards Institute.
“The volumes of tripe from our Namibian HACCP-certified facilities are not enough to support the economic production volumes of our facility and it is also not our intention to compete in the supply chain of our local people, especially 'the Memes that sell kapana'. We created a new market and a new product category and therefore, we also decided to create our own supply chain for our products so that all of us can co-exist,” Kathindi said.
“To put it into context, we have just started and we are currently processing 100 tonnes of tripe per month and this equates to about 11 100 cattle,” explained Kathindi.
According to him, there is no issue procuring locally as long as there are proper checks and balances in place from potential future suppliers. “In principle, we do not mind buying from our local facilities, provided they are certified,” said Kathindi.
“Our projections in terms of growth, is to produce 30 million servings by the year 2020. African Deli will grow, and therefore more jobs for Namibians will be created in the near future,” he said positively.
“We have adopted a staged market and product penetration plan and we have opted to start first at home, Namibia and thereafter moving to other SADC countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
He also reveals plans to introduce more product offerings which will appeal to lovers of delicacy foods.
“We will shortly be adding other lip-smacking flavours to the mix, including beef tripe in curry or in spicy chakalaka. Plus, our food technologists are busy developing a whole range of exciting traditional ready-meals. So, you can soon stock a full range of African family favourites that will improve your customers' shopping experience and your bottom line, so watch this space,” he concluded.
OGONE TLHAGE
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