On 11 March 2023, almost all the 15 000 guests who attended a Field Day hosted by President Mnangagwa at his Pricabe Farm, Kwekwe, were each presented with a loaf of bread branded DCK Bakery. Yes, 15 000 loaves of bread — for free! Brick by Brick magazine was taken aback by this magnanimous gesture, coming as it did from a virtual minnow in a highly competitive market dominated by the likes of Lobels, Proton, Baker’s Inn, TN Bakeries, etc.
In no time, our reporter, Elias Chakanyuka, was at work in a bid to unravel the motive behind the gesture. It was then that he pleasantly discovered that DCK Bakery is part of the DCK Group of Companies that has taken President Mnangagwa’s call for value addition and beneficiation to heart.
Since the Second Republic came into power in 2017, there has been growing talk about value addition and beneficiation of the country’s minerals and agricultural products. To many people, this was a long-overdue policy decision because for years Zimbabwean companies appeared to be content exporting their products in raw form. In the process, the country has been losing millions as such exports are sold for a song.
On his part, President Mnangagwa has made it a point that whenever an opportunity arises, he speaks passionately about value addition and beneficiation. Writing in his weekly column in The Sunday Mail newspaper in November 2018, he said:
“The notion of value chains comes from the idea of fully exploiting the continent’s resources in order to industrialise our economies so they go beyond the current level where we export primary productions which do not give us much value. Much worse, it means Africa transfers or exports jobs to other economies and regions which beneficiate it’s raw materials, even though the continent registers high levels of unemployment . . .
“Clearly, our country needs a new growth path based on a broad beneficiation strategy. To my mind, a good starting point is to mobilise and organise available national skills so we define our resource endowments in the first place. Following on this, we must map value chains that are possible in our circumstances. Then we must decide on strategies for operationalising those value chains.”
There is no doubt that value addition and beneficiation play a pivotal role as the country seeks to achieve Vision 2030, but it appears some local companies have not yet grasped the message from the President. It’s still business as usual for some of these companies.
However, a visit to the DCK Kwekwe Milling Plant by Brick by Brick proved beyond doubt that some companies are already walking the talk when it comes to value addition and beneficiation of local produce.
The company’s managing director, Douglas Kwande, was in June 2020 quoted as saying: “We are an indigenous, production-oriented company and our vision is to become a dominant player in primary wheat production, milling and baking, i.e. participating in the entire value chain.”
More recently, he told the media: “I am determined to provide solutions to our problems. Our bread is made from wheat grown in Zimbabwe and this dispels the notion that good quality can only be achieved by blending locally grown and imported wheat. These are solutions that, as an entrepreneur, I am determined to provide.”
During the tour of the DCK Milling Plant, the Brick by Brick magazine team witnessed first-hand value addition and beneficiation in motion. The plant’s manager is Rachael Chineka, who studied Food, Science and Technology at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ). The aspiring food scientist did her attachment with Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed food conglomerate National Foods, where she worked in the laboratory specialising in quality control. On graduating, she was back at National Foods, where she worked for about two years before she quit to join DCK Group of Companies, who had just opened a wheat milling plant in Gweru.
When DCK spread its wings to Kwekwe in January this year, Chineka was the automatic choice for the post of plant manager, thanks to her impeccable CV.
During our brief time together, Chineka charmed Brick by Brick with her patriotism and work ethic.
Said Chineka: “President Mnangagwa has been talking about value addition and beneficiation and as DCK that is our primary goal. Here, you will see the President’s words in action and in our finished products,” she said as she gave us a glimpse into her company’s operations.
“We started small, but I can assure you the vision here is very, very big. I want to be part of such a big vision. I have a strong passion for adding value to products and so I belong here.
“DCK is a diversified group of companies. We are into farming, logistics, supermarkets, bakeries, maize and wheat milling. In Gweru we do both maize and wheat milling while here in Kwekwe our milling activities are confined to maize only. The Gweru maize milling plant has the capacity to process 60 metric tonnes in 24 hours while the wheat milling plant does 100 metric tonnes every 24 hours. On the other hand, the Kwekwe plant can process up to 120 metric tonnes of maize over 24 hours.
“DCK employs about 30 people at its Kwekwe plant and another 40 at the Gweru plant.
“The Kwekwe milling plant started operations in January 2023, but even though we have been in the market for only a few months, our maize meal is very popular with customers. Although we produce only roller meal, it can easily pass for refined meal because it is snow white. Our customers have fallen in love with our products, thanks to consistency in quality and our competitive pricing model. In addition, our cleaning processes are quite thorough which makes our maize meal unique.
Despite stiff competition in the staple food market, DCK was giving its long-established rivals a good run for their money, Chineka assured Brick by Brick. “Yes, there is stiff competition in maize meal production, but we are doing very well. Some people like our packaging while others have fallen in love with the quality of our products. We have customers from Harare, Gwanda, Zvishavane, Masvingo, etc,” she said.
The bakery business, with branches in Chitungwiza, Kwekwe, Masvingo, Bulawayo and Chinhoyi, was also booming. Plans are at an advanced stage to open more branches as demand currently outstrips supply.
Over the years several small- to medium-scale bakeries have gone under after they could not stand the heat of competition from the industry’s big fish, but Chineka is adamant that DCK Bakeries is no pushover.
“We want to break the monopoly in this sector and we are prepared for the long haul. DCK is here to stay. The cake is quite big and we can all have our share,” she said.
“I know there are some people out there who don’t believe that big things are happening in Zimbabwe. But I can assure you that soon many will be surprised. I usually tell my family in Harare that you should come on the ground and see what is happening. I am always telling them, ‘Guys, things are happening out here.’ Industry is slowly but surely coming up,” said Chineka.
Chineka’s optimism is shared by the miller at the Kwekwe plant, Collins Makuvire, who took Brick by Brick through the entire roller milling process. With perhaps the exception of the milling plant itself, everything else – raw materials, labour, packaging, etc – is proudly Zimbabwean. And who can blame Makuvire for beating his chest and proclaiming: Nyika yava kuvakwa nevene vayo.
