28 Aug 2022

The recently held Francistown Business Expo has been hailed as a success and the right vehicle to showcase some of the locally produced goods and services.

Managing Director of Litious Ginger Gemere Mr Mukani Letsholathebe whose company produces Ginger drink at Industrial scale was among the many entrepreneurs who leveraged on the platform held in the second city last week.

His company, based in Francistown, produces ginger drink using organic ingredients.

Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the two- day expo last Thursday, Mr Letsholathebe relayed ingredients used were readily made pre-mixed powder consisting of sugar, yeast, citric acid, with preservative sodium benzoate imported from South Africa.

“We are intending to manufacture our own ingredients in the near future as a way of reducing the import bill and localise our products and create employment opportunities,” he said.

He said that the product was tested by B-Tech and that the National Food Technology Research Centre (NAFTEC) assisted in assuring that it met Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS).

The company produces about 6 000 bottles of ginger per week and each bottle of ginger has a good shelf life of up to six months.

 “At the moment we are only producing original ginger flavour and plans are underway to add more additional flavors like pineapple, orange, lemon and others,” he said.

Regarding production, he said they intended to scale up production because the high demand for the product.

 Moreover Mr Letsholathebe stated that the company intended to export in future.

 Litious Ginger Gemere supplies to some local butcheries, Saverite supermarkets, local restaurants, liquor restaurants, funeral services, weddings and others

He noted that the company customised its product according to the liking of the customer.

Mr Letsholathebe is a beneficiary of the Youth Development Fund (YDF) which bank rolled his business with P 100 000 last year.

Manager of iGrind (Pty) Ltd from Selibe Phikwe Mr Thuto Molate is also another exhibitor who took advantage of the expo to display rice that they package from Thailand.

He said the initial production started in 2021 with an imported grain of 20 tonnes. This was after receiving funding of P960 000 from Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA).

“We want to increase the import of grain to 50 tonnes and ultimately 100 tonnes in the future,” he said.

His company supplies retail stores among them Palapye, Serowe, Selibe Phikwe, Lerala, Bobonong, Mmadinare, Sefhare, Ramokgonami, Ratholo, Mogapi, Mogapinyana, Francistown, Serule, Bokaa, Gaborone and other villages.

“Although we are able to meet the demand at the moment, we want to increase supply and venture into foreign market,” he said

The company has staff complement of six who are predominantly young people. ends