Zambeef captures nation’s heart with family festival

Zambeef turns up the ‘heat’ at Zamfest

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – Thousands of revellers joined the nation’s largest food processor, Zambeef, to celebrate food, football and music on Saturday (April 8) at the company’s Zamfest extravaganza in Lusaka.

There was fun for all ages and interests, with families enjoying food stalls, a ‘ZamShoka’ Best Braai competition, kid’s activity park and entertainment that culminated in the evening’s music sessions, headlined by iconic African musician Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi taking to the stage to the thrill of the audience at the Showgrounds.

Tuku’s leading act was backed by the country’s hottest music artists, including Pompi, Cactus Agony, Maureen Lilanda, Willz and Sebastian Dutch among others. Festival goers enjoyed plenty of laughs with comedians K-Star and Kapembwa on the ground.

“Food and drink are a part of every important moment and celebration in our lives and this time is no different. Zambeef brought together the things that are close to our hearts such as football, food, music, family and fun all wrapped in one eventful day. well,” said Zambeef Joint Chief Executive Officer Dr Carl Irwin.

On the sporting front, in a surprise upset the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) team scored 1-0 against a professional team led by AFCON 2012 star and former National team Captain Christopher Katongo in a friendly match.

The football element sprung from the launch of the e18hteam DVD supported by Zambeef, which chronicles the nation’s love of soccer and captures the passion, excitement and national pride of the Zambian football team, and charts the fortunes of the national Chipolopolo team – from the lows of the 1993 Gabon air crash to the highs of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) victory.

The e18hteam documentary is the work of producer, Ngosa Chungu and Spanish writer, director and co-producer Juan Rodriguez-Briso towards which Zambeef invested K1.5 million in support. The DVDs are now on sale at Zambeef outlets countrywide.

Zambeef has a long association with football. Its Zamleather division makes the popular Kaleza Z-12 model leather soccer boots, the first to be locally designed and manufactured in Zambia. Zamleather is also home to the Alive & Kicking employment-generation project that manufacturers quality leather soccer balls that carry health messages and are distributed to under-privileged teams nationwide.

Throughout its history Zambeef has supported a number of football teams playing in leagues and at community level, and has groomed footballers at the grassroots including AFCON 2012 squad member James Chamanga.

About Zambeef Products Plc

Zambeef Products Plc is the largest integrated agribusiness and food processing company in Zambia and one of the largest in the region.

The group is principally involved in the production, processing, distribution and retailing of beef, chicken, pork, milk, dairy products, eggs, stockfeed and flour. The group also has large row cropping operations (principally maize, soya beans and wheat), planting 16,500 hectares in summer and 8,000 hectares in winter. The group is also expanding its West Africa operations in Nigeria and Ghana.

The company slaughters around 70,000 beef cattle, 6.75million chickens and 70,000 pigs per annum, while also processing 16 million litres of milk, producing 150,000 tons of stockfeed, 60 million eggs, 78,000 pairs of shoes and processes 97,500 hides in its tannery per year.

It has 176 retail outlets throughout Zambia and West Africa.

Zambeef employs over 6,000 people with a total of K307 million paid in remuneration and benefits in the last year, and contributed K144m to Government in taxes and duties.

More information is available at www.zambeefplc.com