Food giant launches celebrated film on DVD

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – Film, football and food will be among the highlights of the Zambeef-sponsored Zamfest festival in Lusaka in April.

The country’s largest food processing company will be using the festival as a platform to launch DVD sales of the e18hteam documentary that chronicles the journey of Zambian football from the tragedy of 1992 to the triumph of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2012.

The country’s hottest music artists will also be performing at the event at the Lusaka Showgrounds on Saturday April 18, including Pompi, Wills, Cactus Agony, Maureen Lilanda and Sebastian Dutch.

“Zambeef is celebrating the launch of the DVD that chronicles a key part of our nation’s history; and when Zambians celebrate they bring together food, music and football, as well as fun,” said Zambeef head of marketing and corporate affairs Felix Lupindula.

Zambeef spent K1.5 million to support the award-winning e18hteam movie that captures the passion, excitement and national pride of the Zambian football team, which 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.

“This movie goes to the heart of the nation’s love of soccer and documents an important part of our history, and for this reason Zambeef has been proud to support the project, encouraging a young Zambian film maker and ensuring that this story is preserved for future generations,” said Zambeef Joint Chief Executive Officer Carl Irwin.

The e18hteam documentary is the work of producer, Ngosa Chungu and Spanish writer, director and co-producer Juan Rodriguez-Briso. It follows themes of Zambian pride, spirit, sportsmanship and perseverance as the country went from losing 18 national players in a tragic plane crash (1992) to the hard-won victory in 2012.

The Zamfest, as the chosen launch event, promises the most exciting chefs from across Africa, 50 world class pop-up restaurants, more than 100 international and local types of cuisine to sample, the best of local and international music acts, and a wide selection of local and exotic beverages. To add to the event will be a “knock-out round” football competition, made up of eight amateur teams. The winners receiving a cash prize and the opportunity to face-off against five of Zambia’s current football stars. Other event day competitions will include a Best Braai competition and an attempt at breaking a world record, yet to be disclosed.

“Zambeef has invested in both the documentary and the Zamfest because it believes in the potential affect they can have to change Zambian life for the better,” said Mr Lupindula. “In much the same way that a nation can come together for their team and a family can come together around food, we are excited to see One Zambia share in our celebration of life and put Zambia on the map with an international standard of festival.”

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.

Flashback to the Zambeef 2015 roadshow to promote the e18hteam documentary.

Zambeef: capturing the spirit of Zambian football.

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 172 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