Amoeba Chemicals, a local chemical manufacturing company owned by Omar Bakali was also traumatised by the coronavirus. However, instead of folding his arms Bakali then decided to diversify his offerings for survival.
In an interview, Bakali said he decided to tap into food production after realising a niche in the market. “It was during the lockdown when I realised that people needed to be supplied with food, especially fruits and vegetables due to the restriction of movement. They preferred online buying, hence why I tapped into the opportunity,” he told BusinessMonitor. Trading under Khawa Foods, the company sells fruits and vegetables including mango, grapes, tomatoes, apples, onions, green peppers, potatoes, cabbages, garlic, ginger brocolli, cauliflower amongst others. For convenience sake, the company also do deliveries at a certain fee to their customers. Bakali added he mainly get his supplies from both local and cross border farmers, adding that local farmers are not reliable which forces them to go beyond the border. “Most of the local produce does not meet our standards because perishables need to be in good shape for us to re-sell.
