Food company confident of Zambian Rugby 7s squad performance

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – Rugby 7s sponsor Zambeef has expressed confidence in the 2017 Zambian International Rugby 7s Championship Squad’s performance, as excitement mounts in the camp with the unveiling of the team’s kit this week.

“At Zambeef we believe in teamwork and hard work. It’s an approach that we expect our national Rugby 7s team to adopt, and we expect to see a great display of sportsmanship as international teams participate. Rugby is a very demanding game; physically and mentally and the players we believe are prepared for it,” said Zambeef Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs Felix Lupindula.

The squad is in training ahead of travelling to Zimbabwe to face their opponents in the Victoria Falls Sevens tournament on March 17 and 18.

“Sports has always been close to the heart of Zambeef. Like food, sports has a unifying factor which we understand as a food retailing company Rugby 7s also serves to display Zambian talent in the game and hopefully this will help increase awareness of the game and popularity in the country,” said Mr Lupindula, adding that he expected the team to live up to Zambeef’s motto of “Proudly Zambian”.

Zambeef has been an avid supporter of sports in the country, having sponsored the production of the e18hteam documentary that chronicles the journey of Zambian football from the tragedy of 1993 tragedy to the triumph of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2012, DVD sales of which will be launch at the Zamfest in Lusaka on April 8.

The company’s 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.

Zambia Rugby 7s in training with their new kit.

Zambia Rugby 7s in training with their new kit.

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