Lake Harvest was founded in 1997 to produce high quality tilapia for the European and southern African markets.
By Tapiwa Karise
Its fish farms are situated on Lake Kariba, which is fed by the mighty Zambezi River, surrounded by spectacular scenery and wildlife and protected as a National Park.
Lake Kariba is largely protected from heavy industry and pollution, giving our fish the benefit of a clean and natural environment and the best start in life. Lake Harvest ensures the high quality of its fish through a combination of sustainable farming techniques and state-of-the-art equipment, taking pride in attention to detail by ensuring complete control of the process, from the feed ingredients and breeding through to delivery of delicious fish fillets to market.
The factory meets strict Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) Standards and European Union standards.
Lake Harvest offers unrivalled traceability and consistent food security and its fish products are free of additives, preservatives, GMOs and antibiotics — which is why Lake Harvest Tilapia can be found in the finest restaurants!
As the largest tilapia producer in Africa, coupled with its unique placement at Lake Kariba, Lake Harvests sees itself leading the way in creating a blueprint for fresh water aquaculture and is passionate about and committed to becoming leaders in social, commercial and environmental trends.
Lakes Harvest believes our environment, people and animals should be treated with dignity and respect and company policies revolve around this philosophy.
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Lake Harvest believes tilapia to be the fish of the future and intends to help ensure its success as a sustainable source of highly nutritious fish for generations to come.
Fish is a very sensitive product and Lake Harvest prides itself on its unrivalled cold chain management; from processing through to distribution and storage for both our fresh and frozen product, strongly urging customers to embrace similar practices, thereby ensuring that the fish will always be fresh and at its most delicious.
Lake Harvest has seen tremendous growth in harvest volumes over the past three years, from 2 500 tonnes whole fish equivalence in 2010 to 7 400 tonnes whole fish equivalence in 2011. 8 500 tonnes and 11 500 tonnes whole fish equivalence is projected for 2012 and 2013, respectively. Lake Harvest: third largest employer in Kariba Lake Harvest is proud to call Kariba home and to be the third largest employer there, with a workforce of over 500 people. The Harare operation employs 20 people and Zambian operation over 40.
Women’s and youth groups throughout the country partner Lake Harvest in the distribution of products, especially Fresh Whole Round, an innovative product which does not require freezing as it comes “on ice” and is Lake Harvest’s way of empowering women and youth who sell the product. ‘The best fish served is ours’ The Lake Harvest distribution channel is divided into three main categories: distributor, wholesale and retail.
The distributor category comprises mainly high volume customers who traditionally market the product in retail outlets and chain stores.
Wholesale customers are mainly abattoirs, butcheries, institutions and takeaways. Lake Harvest currently has one retail shop at its Harare Distribution Centre in Watts Road, New Ardbennie.
Products are categorised into four key classes, namely Tilapia bream fillets, whole gutted bream, fresh chilled whole round bream and by-products.
Lake Harvest Tilapia bream fillets are further divided into frozen and fresh fillets and skin off (skinless) and skin on, while whole gutted breams can be further split into frozen and fresh whole gutted.
By-products comprise bream heads, belly flaps, strips (which can be sold fresh or frozen and in bulk) and frozen fillet bites.
Whole gutted breams and fillets are graded by size. Whole gutted breams are graded as 100-300g (depicted by a red colour), 300-400g (green), 400-600g (blue), 600-800g (double blue), 800-1 000g (yellow) and 1 000g+ (double yellow).
Colour codes help in size identification. Premium products are packaged in different pack sizes to suit different consumer needs.
Some are bulk-packed to suit the catering services industry’s needs while others are packed in pouches/sleeves. Last year frozen whole gutted 1kg and 2kg were introduced, and have done extremely well in the market.
Tilapia skin off and on packaged in 500g boxes were also introduced, competing with many imported lines, and have been well-received.
Lake Harvest’s divers have assisted in disaster situations at Kariba, members of the team participate in the annual Kariba Fun Run and the company also sponsors the Kariba Tigers Football Team in Zifa’s 2nd Division League.
Having established a strong relationship with The Cheeseman over the years, it was an easy decision for Lake Harvest to partner the company in the popular Zimbabwe on a Plate (Zoap) Competition.
Lake Harvest’s motto is “The finest restaurants serve only the best fish, and it’s ours!”
Lake Harvest wish all restaurants who entered this year’s competition the best of luck for 2013, pledges to be a Zoap partner again next year and expects the competition to get bigger and better as more and more families now enjoy eating out.
Lake Harvest also applauds its other co-sponsors Afdis, National Foods (Mahatma) and The Standard who have contributed so much to the success and smooth running of Zoap. For more information, visit www.lakeharvest.com
