By DOROTHY CHISI-
INNOVATION has continued to drive the agenda of Trade Kings Group since its establishment over 25 years ago.
From producing Boom laundry paste, the company has now grown to seven subsidiaries.
Trade Kings, a wholly Zambian owned company, opened in 1995 and quickly established itself as a formidable exporter of a range of manufactured products in five export markets.
These products rapidly became leading brands in Zambia and soon started penetrating five export markets in the region, namely Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
From production of a single detergent paste – Boom – to producing a variety of confectionary, dairy, beverage and household products, the Trade Kings Group has grown to become Zambia’s largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) manufacturer with a vision to expand throughout Africa and beyond.
Trade Kings Group also has a social investment programme under which it offers a full spectrum of health, education, sanitation and women empowerment interventions for individuals and the community at large through the Trade Kings Foundation.
The foundation was established five years ago to demonstrate the company’s commitment to support the community in which it operates by giving back through charitable ventures, creating strategic partnerships for the greater good of society.
The charter of the foundation is centered on health, education, women empowerment, youth skills development and support for charities like orphanages.
Trade Kngs Group has also been spearheading the Keep Zambia Clean, Green and Healthy campaign by manufacturing products that promotes good hygiene.
After being ranked 49th on the list of Africa’s 100 most admired brands in 2019, Trade Kings Group was recently awarded the 2022 SADC Quality Awards Product of The Year for the Boom bubble plus product in the Large Enterprise Category.
Trade Kings Group General Manager Lux Subramanian said the 2022 SADC awards were important in facilitating trade through the harmonisation of standards based on international requirements.
“We are pleased to announce that Trade Kings Group was awarded Product of the Year for Boom Bubble Plus in the large enterprise category at the 2022 SADC quality awards,” he said.
Mr Subramanian said the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) had also congratulated Trade Kings for the achievement and expressed pride in the consistency, commitment and unrivalled efforts in implementing local and international standards.
Mr Subramanian expressed gratitude to the ZABS and the SADC quality awards judging panel for the recognition and the prestigious award.
He said Trade Kings Group, mirroring the central ethos of ZABS, seeks to champion quality across its business activities.
Mr Subramanian said Trade Kings Group has this year positioned itself to continue investing and growing its footprint.
He described the SADC award as an encouragement to Trade Kings leadership to continue to grow and thrive in an uncertain risk environment.
“Trade Kings is far and beyond a household name for the Zambian people and an undoubted source of strong patriotism,” he said.
According to the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), the manufacturing sector in Zambia accounts for about 11 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and has been growing at an average annual growth rate.
The manufacturing activities in the country are mostly undertaken by the private sector with Government providing an enabling environment and playing a proactive role.
The sector is of vital importance in relation to the country’s macroeconomic strategy for encouraging broad based economic growth.
The Government has put in place measures to support manufacturing activities, such as the establishment of multi-facility economic zones and industrial parks which support establishment of areas for both export orientated and domestic orientated industries, with the necessary support infrastructure installed and provision of investment incentives.
Trade Kings Group, through its plants, produces leading brands in terms of laundry soaps, household products, confectioneries, carbolic and snacks.
According to the general manager, Trade Kings Group, in its quest to innovate, strongly believes in “re-imagining and re-engineering the impossible”.
“Many innovative projects are on the anvil dissected into short, medium and long term ventures. These innovative projects are impelled with an underlying philosophy of being radically sustainable, resonating on import substitution, echoing on exports to regional geographies, with value addition by harnessing employment of local Zambians,” Mr Subramanian said.
The company has over the years grown its capacity to supply both the local market and regional export markets, and position Trade Kings as the originator manufacturer of detergents within Zambia.
The FMCG manufacturer and distributor is so far expected to open up another plant in the bid to expand its operations at the Lusaka South Muti-Facility Economic Zone (LS-MFEZ).
Trade Kings Corporate Affairs Manager Bridget Kambobe said the company would remain indebted to the general population that has grown the products from the days of Boom to the current situation when innovation has taken centre stage.
Ms Kambobe said Trade Kings Group is pleased to empower communities by improving people’s lives through various innovations in its products in order to grow the company brand.
She paid tribute to women who have worked hard to ensure that the Boom brand grows from strength to strength.
Ms Kambobe said it is because of the need to appreciate the women that Trade Kings, through Big Tree, came up with the initiative of empowering them.
The company’s expansion at the LS-MFEZ involves construction of a multi-million Kwacha plant that is expected to boost production of the various products add value to the economy.
The cutting edge technology and machinery being used in the company’s plants have provide capacity for Trade Kings to automate and increase production.
The products of Trade Kings would remain central to Zambia’s drive to have a clean, green and healthy environment even as the company continues to grow with the local community through job creation, expansion of local manufacturing and value addition as well as contributing to the national economy.
The company’s ability to create brands that compete favourably in regional and international markets attests to Zambia’s ability to become a manufacturing hub not only in the region but in Africa.
It also shows that with the right incentives, investments and an enabling environment, Zambia’s determination to exploit its central geographic location in the middle of eight countries would transform its economic fortunes.