Zambezi Tanners scoops ZNCC best exporter accolade
The Chronicle
22/10/2021
Blessing Karubwa, Features Reporter
EXOTIC tannery specialists, Zambezi Tanners, recently scooped the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Best Exporter: Agriculture Award.
The company, which was founded in 2011, processes animal hides into finished leathers, meeting international quality standards.
While Nile crocodile is at the core of their business, the company also processes a wide selection of other exotic hides.
The company aims to become the leading supplier of quality finished leathers to the country and internationally.
Zambezi Tanners recently launched a separate division called Matobo Tanning, a specialist bovine finishing tannery.
The establishment’s general manager Mr Arnold Britten said the plant is at the installation phase and would, upon completion, be providing bovine leather for the footwear and furniture upholstery market.
“We currently export 90 percent of our production to the USA, Japan, China and Europe as crust or finished leathers ready for production of leather goods. As 90 percent of our output is consumed by the export market, our business has been hard hit by the effects of Covid-19 in our trading partners markets,” said Mr Britten.
He however, said the company has seen an improvement in the last quarter of 2021 and remain optimistic for 2022.
“We continue to manage our reduced earnings in line with our expenditure to allow us to weather the downside of business due to Covid-19,” said Mr Britten.
Zambezi Tanners is committed to environmental, economic and social sustainability.
The company is located at number 37 Silver Crescent, Kelvin West in Bulawayo.
Millenium Footwear seeks to develop products in line with latest trends
The Chronicle
22/10/2021
Blessing Karubwa, Features Reporter
MILLENIUM Footwear manufactures safari boots, casual shoes and boots, formal shoes, ladies pumps and sandals, men’s sandals and rafters, sneakers, exotic belts, sling bags and wallets.
Millenium Footwear’s exotic leather range includes elephant , hippo , ostrich, buffalo, giraffe , wilder beast, warthog and crocodile.
The company also manufactures safety shoes, drill boots, patrol boots, security shoes, nurses’ duty shoes and school shoes in cow leather.
All exotic leathers are manufactured under license and are sourced from licensed dealers in liaison with Zimparks.
Millenium Footwear’s products are of top quality and are in line with the latest fashion trends in footwear.
The company supplies shoes to chain stores, footwear retail shops, government institutions, mines and schools across the country. It has also made its presence felt in the Sadc region, selling its products in most of the trade shows in the region as well as through exports to Europe, America and Asia on a small scale.
With the help of the country’s export promotion body Zimtrade, the company has had technical, marketing and designing experts from PUM (Netherlands) and SES (Germany). They have helped the company in terms of the latest trends in shoe designs and also improved the quality of the products so they can sell in any part of the world.
Millenium Footwear has Sadc and Comesa certification and a Bilateral certificate with Botswana.
Millenium Footwear director Mr Stuart Simali said the Covid-19 pandemic compromised their market and the company saw it critical to focus on products that were needed by sectors which were not gravely affected by the pandemic such as mining companies.
He said they started producing safety shoes which were mainly used by miners.
“We shifted our production focus from exotic to protective wear like safety shoes which was not affected much by the pandemic. Because of the lockdowns, most sectors had put down their tools but the mining sector continued, so we shifted to protective wear. This doesn’t mean we’ve completely changed focus but it was necessary to keep the business afloat,” said Mr Simali.
He said manufacturing a wide range of products has been useful as a struggling line may be covered for by the striving ones.
“We’re doing a wide range of products in which case if one line is not doing well the other lines cover for it. We’ve also managed to remain afloat by investing in our relationships with other respected organisations in the leather industry and footwear retailers,” said Mr Simali.
He said developing products in line with the latest trends in footwear and maintaining strong customer satisfaction has made Millenium Footwear the preferred manufacturer nationwide. Millenium Footwear, which is located in Belmont, Bulawayo has won several other awards including Zimbabwe Investment Award, Global Expo Botswana Award, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and Megafest Business Award.