WALVIS BAY - African Deli, the renowned Namibian company that specialises in ready-to eat food products, is set to take Africa by storm with its latest addition to their readily available food delicacies.
The multi-million-dollar company that has been operating since 2013 in Walvis Bay, is set to decrease the current importation of baked beans, that currently generates over N$10 million from Namibia alone. According to statistics, Namibia imports over 500 000 tins of baked beans from South Africa annually.
However, African Deli now wants to tap into that, market with their newly launched baked beans in tomato sauce, which will be available in local shops in due course.
Currently, the Namibian market is dominated by the Koo, Hugos and Rhodes brands while retailers such as Shoprite, Pick and Pay as well as Spar also ventured into their own brands of baked beans.
Chief executive officer of African Deli, Lameck Kambarami says that they to date have six products that are already available. They are beef tripe, chicken livers, chicken gizzards, speckled beans and black-eyed beans.
He is optimistic that their brand will also become a favourite among Namibians.
“All these are ready- to-eat products that you can just heat in the microwave. Now we are adding baked beans in tomato sauce to our products,” Kambarami said.
He said their products are currently very popular in South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana and Zambia, but they plan to branch out all over Africa.
In order to do this, they are partnering with local producers such as Avagro, to supply them with beans and other ingredients.
“We have invested up to N$80 million into this facility and to date produced 100 000 pouches which is equivalent to 40 tons per day. Our monthly capacity is three million. Namibians currently consume 500 000 tins of beans which is equivalent to 50 tons of unprocessed white beans and that translates to N$10 million. That is why we decided to venture into this market and at the same time create food security,” he explained.
Trade and industrialisation minister Lucia Iipumbu said it is pleasing to note that African Deli is wholly Namibian-owned and also responds to government’s call of value addition and food security.
“The supply chain constraints have yet again presented us an
opportunity to boost our local capacity and self-reliance as a country due to escalation of prices and product shortages. This new product is therefore a commendable effort. It is a step in the right direction in terms of creating food security, promoting local business initiatives and domestic investments, which may culminate into business integration and exports,” Iipumbu noted.
Adding that the commitment by African Deli to produce locally and deliver to local, regional, and international markets competitively is admirable. According to Iipumbu, the concept resonates well with the Buy Local,
Grow Namibia campaign initiative whose main purpose is to stimulate the local consumption of goods and services such as those produced by African Deli.
“The campaign further creates awareness on the importance of consuming our proudly locally manufactured goods and services and by extension to educate consumers about the economic and social advantages that local businesses bring to communities,” she said.