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Business Reporter
THE country’s trade agency, ZimTrade says a number of Bulawayo companies have benefited from its export training programmes, which included packaging skills development.

Packaging is an essential element of any export oriented business as it impacts not only the safety but also the costs, communications and even marketing of a product.

In its latest monthly newsletter, Zimtrade said their recent training course on packaging for Bulawayo companies was meant to bring exporters and potential exporters up to speed with the critical issue of packaging for international markets.

“The training was attended by companies in the processed foods, arts and crafts, horticulture and pharmaceuticals sectors. It was aimed at equipping participants with knowledge on export packaging,” said Zimtrade.

“Companies benefited from presentations on packaging design and technology, packaging standards and regulation as well as packaging for transport and distribution.”

Commenting on the impact of the training, one of the participants in the pharmaceutical industry, only identified as Mr Moyo said: “The training was an eye opener, particularly with regard to the importance of packaging as a marketing tool for enhancing product competitiveness and benchmarking with competitors in the export market.”

During the training Zimtrade associate trainer Mr Dennis Choguya highlighted the importance of conducting market intelligence on marketing standards, regulations and expectations of target markets so as to ensure the correct packaging for their products.

“Companies in the processed foods sector who produce super foods should make use of nutritious information and health benefits, which are usually written at the back of the packaging. In a world where people are now more health conscious, this can easily be a way of marketing their products on the shelf,” added Mr Choguya.

A representative from Zubo Trust, which recently started exporting natural soap made from a plant called Jatropha, commended Zimtrade on their good work in providing relevant information through the export awareness trainings.

“This training came at an opportune time when we have just started exporting our soap to Germany and we appreciate ZimTrade’s work. We will certainly utilise the information availed today to package our soap to be more competitive in the export market,” said the representative.

Zimtrade regularly hosts export awareness seminars across the country to equip companies with information on the European Union packaging standards and regulations.

It also conducts export market surveys that assists local firms to tailor-make their products for specific market needs.