New equipment to boost Higrow chicks production

Lovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
HIGROW, a Bulawayo based poultry inputs supplier, recently bought new hatchery equipment which will see day-old chicks production peaking 750,000 a month up from about half a million chicks over the same period.
The cost of the equipment could not be immediately ascertained.
Higrow marketing manager, Clarence Mutangara, told Chronicle Business that the new equipment is meant to consolidate the company’s presence in the southern region before expanding to the rest of the country.
“We’ve purchased new equipment which will see us hatching 750,000 day-old chicks per month. This is going to consolidate our presence and increase our market share in the southern region.
We want to set up a strong base in the region before we expand our operations to the rest of the country between next year and 2018,” said Mutangara.
Higrow, a subsidiary of Sondelani Ranching, a diversified farming and agro business concern, has spread its tentacles to the greater part of the southern region. It has distribution branches in Bulawayo, Lupane, Victoria Falls and Hwange.
The company also has a presence in Plumtree, Gwanda, Beitbridge, Chiredzi, Zvishavane and lately Gweru.
As part of efforts of empowering their customers, Higrow is setting up market contract schemes where customers who have undergone their training and buy their day-old chicks and stock feed will sell the birds to the company.
“We’re setting up a market contract scheme next month where our customers who undergo our in-house training and buy our products qualify to sell their chickens to us and we forward them for processing. It’s a way of taking our customers’ products to the market,” explained Mutangara.
Zimbabwe’s poultry industry has shown massive growth since 2009 despite threats of cheap imports mainly from Brazil and South Africa which has been exacerbated by the high cost of stock feed.
The country has a combined hatching capacity of 76 million day-old chicks per annum.