Our Story
Promasidor was founded in 1979 by Robert Rose, who left the United Kingdom in 1957 for Zimbabwe to pursue his African dream. As Chairman of Allied Lyons Africa for over 20 years, he travelled extensively across Africa and gained a unique and thorough knowledge of the food industry throughout the continent. In particular he noticed a lack of availability of the one highly nutritious product that the developed world takes for granted - milk.
He realised that with technology in the manufacture of milk powders advancing rapidly, there was an exciting opportunity to provide milk powder in small portions that could be packaged in flexible sachets. It was found that removing the animal fat from the milk and replacing it with vegetable fat allowed for a longer shelf life. This meant that for the first time, milk powder could be distributed across the vast African continent, providing access to affordable milk to everyone in Africa.
A passionate belief in this vision fuelled the pioneering concept of selling filled milk powder in small sachets and Promasidor began selling the Cowbell brand in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) in 1979. Today Cowbell is sold in the majority of countries across the African continent.
Initially distributing our flagship powdered milk brand in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Promasidor soon grew to include several more nutritional food-and-beverage brands which we distribute to many other African countries, including Nigeria. Operations in Nigeria commenced in 1993 and today Promasidor Nigeria even distributes to neighbouring countries such as Benin, Niger, Chad and the Central African Republic.
Our Vision
We are an African company proud of our heritage and totally committed to the continent. We manufacture, market and sell unique brands which bring joy to millions of consumers across Africa.
We have enjoyed ongoing success for over 40 years. This success has been built on not only understanding the needs of our consumers, but also on the understanding of the needs of our employees, our suppliers and our stakeholders.
Our Mission: To provide quality food products to all our consumers.
Our Vision: To lead the market with quality food products, while setting the highest standards of production and distribution in Africa.
We Live Our CREST values:
- Customer Focus. We recognize that without its customers Promasidor would not exist. We therefore place customers at the center of our activities to drive all that we do.
- Respect for All and the Environment. We respect our colleagues, customers, consumers and all stakeholders, including the environment, and treat them as we would want to be treated.
- Excellence in Execution. We accept personal accountability to achieve everything we set out to do. We are determined to do our best, dissatisfied with mediocrity and committed to a result-oriented culture.
- Support for Each Other. We have a compelling desire for everyone to improve and contribute, and because our people are fundamental to the success of Promasidor, we must all support each other.
- Trust. The success of Promasidor is dependent on the professionalism and responsible conduct of its employees centered on integrity. This conduct is enhance when there is a foundation of trust. To achieve trust, we always behave reliably, fairly and honestly, and we treat each other all our stakeholders with the highest standards of ethics.
Profitability - We will sell products where we can be profitable. If circumstances within the operating environment limit the potential to generate profits, the company cannot invest, grow, motivate, develop and reward our people and stakeholders.