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 Lovemore Zigara Business Correspondent
THE country’s sole yeast manufacturer, Lesaffre Zimbabwe has invested $500 000 towards the setting up of a water treatment plant at its Gweru factory.

This follows the installation of a water pump by Gweru City Council at Ngamo Dam which has resulted in the company receiving uninterrupted raw water supplies.

Water is a key component in the production of yeast and Lesaffre consumes 400 000 litres of the commodity daily.

The company’s general manager, Mr Bernard Laguerre told Business Chronicle that the water treatment plant is expected to be commissioned this week.

This, he said, would reduce the cost of water from the local authority as the company will treat its own water.

“We’re grateful with the assistance that we got from Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa who ensured the City Council installs a pump from Ngamo Dam where we are receiving raw water supplies.

We’re setting up a water treatment plant at a cost of $500 000 to reduce our water bill because treated water from council is very expensive so it is prudent to treat the water right from our factory,” he said.

“We’ve already installed water tanks and machinery is in the process of being installed.

By the end of this week, the treatment plant would be fully commissioned,” said Mr Laguerre.

He said the installation of the treatment plant is part of his company’s retooling programme.

The yeast producer has since from the beginning of the year invested $2 million at its factory in Gweru and the money has been largely channelled towards the refurbishment exercise and acquisition of new equipment.

The capital injection was made after a French conglomerate, Lesaffre Group acquired a 60 percent stake in Anchor Yeast resulting in the local firm changing its name to Lesaffre Zimbabwe.

Following the investment, Lesaffre has improved on capacity utilisation to 100 percent resulting in the firm recruiting additional workforce by 50 percent, from 125 employees — @lavuzigara1