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Livingstone Marufu Business Reporter
Pure Oil Industries, which manufactures Zimgold cooking oil brand, is set to commission-state-of-the-art bakers fat and margarine plant in the next coming weeks as the firm moves to become an integrated oil extraction and processing company.

The move comes  at a time when the cooking oil manufacturer is pushing for a one stop manufacturing company where cooking oil, soap, baker’s fat and margarine are manufactured at one factory.

Last week Pure Oil Industries head of operations Rodreck Musiyiwa, told The Herald Business that the company will ride on the new dispensation to expand its operations.

“Pure Oil Industries is not resting on its laurels and has invested in further value addition projects as the company has finished soap plant and has started selling soaps at a commercial scale.

“The company is actively exploring investing into a baker’s fat and margarine plant thereby becoming an integrated oil extraction and processing company. In that realm creating further employment as well as more opportunities for both downstream and upstream industries.

“We have completed our margarine plant and we are set to commission it in the coming weeks,” said Mr Musiyiwa.

The company greatly benefited from the import management programme also known as Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 and established itself as one of the leading cooking oil companies in the country.

He said: “Not so long ago, Zimbabwean’s wholesale and retail shelves were mostly occupied with foreign imported cooking oil after the local cooking oil industry had become incapacitated.

“Despite the near insurmountable challenges facing the cooking oil industry back then, Pure Oil decided to plunge on and invest in local cooking oil processing capability thereby reducing dependency on imported brands.

“In addition, Pure Oil also invested in an oil seed extraction plant thus providing a ready market for local soya bean farmers who unfortunately had no avenues to market their produce earlier.”

The growth of Pure Oil has revived the once dormant Workington Industrial area and in the process helping the downstream and upstream industries with renewed business activity.

In this regard, packaging, transport and logistics companies have all benefited and transformed their businesses.

Since its inception in 2013, Pure Oil has created over 300 jobs directly as well as over 1000 jobs indirectly in less than three years and promises to create more jobs as they have new projects in the pipeline.