Lilongwe-based youth owned company, Bumble Vee Enterprise is set to launch it’s locally manufactured shoes later this year, touted as one of the best shoe brands on the market.
The company’s Vice Chairperson Sothini Shaba has told ProjectM that the shoes are being manufactured using locally available resources including Kapok trees and Pineapple fabrics.
Shaba has added that the company decided to establish a shoe manufacturing wing after noticing a gap on both local and international markets.
“As we continue exploring other ways of growing financially as a company, we sat down and agreed to launch a shoe manufacturing wing,” Shaba said.
Bumble Vee Enterprise, renowned manufacturers of Honey products says it has partnered with an expert from Indonesia who is providing valuable expertise.
“This expert, whom we can not mention currently for business reasons, has been in shoe manufacturing business for a long time and we believe he will help us a lot,” said Shaba.
Currently, the company has already manufactured several shoes from raw materials that have been obtained from it’s farm in Salima and Mulanje.
The production process involves the extraction of pineapple fabrics handmade using fabrics extracted from pineapple leaves and Kapok tree fruit wool which is then processed into cotton-like fabric.
“The shoes we are currently producing are being offered to customers to try them so that they should be able to make recommendations,” Shaba added.
The company plans to flood both the local and regional markets with it’s shoes, having started exporting other products such as Honey to countries such as Zambia and South Africa.
Meanwhile, economic expert Vincent Matiya Chirwa has commended the company for taking the risk, saying time has come for Malawian owned companies to dominate the local market with products.
