Chibuku Products Factory Tour
About Chibuku Products
| Establishment | 1967 |
|---|---|
| Total Number of Staff | 363 (Full Time) and 120 (Temporary) As of April 2021 |
| Managing Director | Gerald Bowler |
| Address | Makata Industrial Area, P.O. Box 5331, Blantyre, Malawi |
| Phone | +265 (0) 884 618 912 |
| info@chibukumw.com | |
| Website | https://chibukumw.com |
| Opening Hours | 8:00-17:00 (Mon-Fri) |
Chibuku Products Limited (CPL) has been in business for the past 50 years.
In 1999 SABMiller acquired Chibuku Products Limited, and CPL became a subsidiary of SABMiller Ltd.
In 2018, the Bowler Consortium (Bowler Beverages Company Limited) bought majority shares of Chibuku at 78.4%; while 21.6% is owned by the National Insurance Company (NICO).
Currently CPL has brewing plants in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu and a distribution depot in Mangochi.
The company specializes in manufacturing and distribution of sorghum opaque beer and SUPER MAHEU which is a maize flavoured ready-to-drink beverage as well as liquid-energy corn starch Super Shake drink.
Main Products
ALCOHOLIC
1. Chibuku Shake-Shake
2. Chibuku Scud
3. JIVE (Spirits)
4. Chibuku Super
NON-ALCOHOLIC
5. TOP 1 Shake n’ Sip
6. SUPER MAHEU (Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry)
Factory Tour
“WHERE OUR BOTTLE OF ENERGY COMES FROM“
Processing Stage
Stage 1 COAL FIRED BOILER
The 2 tonne boiler heats up water at very high temperatures and products steam that heats up the processing tanks, to bring the CHibuku mixture of maize & sorghum porridge to boil.
Both SUPER MAHEU and Chibuku are produced through a similar “boiling” process, using steam.
Stage 2 PROCESSIGN TANKS
This is where the mixing of Super Maheu raw materials and ingredients are done.
Before packaging the brewed Super Maheu, a sample is taken to the laboratory to be checked by Quality Controller if the product meets the recommended standard, as per MBS Specifications.
For Chibuku Opaque Sorghum Beer, brewing and mixing is done in its own huge tanks of 15,300 litres which were set up in a separate section from the Maheu Plant.
Packaging Stage
A. PURE-PACK SECTION
B. PLASTIC BOTTLE SECTION
PLANT A: PURE-PACK SECTION
For packing TOP1 Shake n’ Sip into pure-pack cartons. This machine needs at least 8 people to be on the assembly line.
Stage 1 PURE-PACK PACKAGING RG21 GARDI
The RG21 Gardi is a new machine at our Blantyre factory. It started operating in March 2021. This is a new investment to extend the Maheu provision to our consumers, with a new variant of Top1 Shake n’ Sip. This is a high standard and advanced machine that is being used in most African countries.
The packs are loaded on the pack loader manually.
The Super Shake liquid is filled into the packs and sealed.
It also checks if the packs have any fault and stops whenever it identifies a fault.
The packs are automatically placed on the conveyor.
Stage 2 DATE PRINTER
Beverages are required to have a manufacturing (MFD) and expiry date.
CPL has high standard laser printers that print the dates as required by the Malawi Bureau of Standards.
Stage 3 CONVEYOR LINE
On this line, workers check for faults which the machine might have missed and if the dates are correctly printed on the packs.
The ones deemed perfect proceed to be packed and delivered to consumers.
Stage 4 CARTON SEALER
The Super Maheu bottles or Top1 Shake n’ Sip pure-packs are packed into cartons, in units of 10, and sealed to be delivered to the market.
Stage 5 THE PRODUCTS ARE READY FOR THE MARKET.
PLANT B: PLASTIC BOTTLE SECTION
Used for packaging Super Maheu into white plastic bottles.
This machine needs at least 14 people to be on the assembly line.
The Super Maheu currently comes in 4 flavours – Milk & Cream, Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla n’ Milk Flavours.
Stage 1 BOTTLE FEEDER BELT
The Super Maheu bottles are placed onto the bottle feeder belt.
Workers check if the bottles have any defects and they move onto the convey belt into the machine.
Stage 2 BOTTLE SEALING MACHINE
This is where the processed and flavoured SUPER MAHEU are filled into the plastic bottles.
The foil covers are also sealed in this machine.
Stage 3 LABELING MACHINE
There are two main activities that happens at this stage:
1. Sticking of labels
2. Printing of Expiry & Manufactured dates
A worker also checks if there are any defects on the bottle.
Stage 4 CARTON SEALER
The Super Maheu bottles or Top1 Shake n’ Sip pure-packs are packed into cartons, in units of 10, and sealed to be delivered to the market.
Stage 5 THE PRODUCTS ARE READY FOR THE MARKET.
