Irvine's

Operations
Grand Parents

Irvine’s grandparent farms are situated in the Harare South area. Cobb grandparent chicks are
imported from Cobb UK and reared under strict environmental and bio-security controls.
Twenty seven weeks later, the birds start laying hatching eggs which are transferred to the
parent hatchery where they hatch into Cobb parent day old chicks. The increase in production
of parent day old chicks has seen Irvine’s Zimbabwe penetrate into regional markets with
over 50% market share in a number of countries. The Cobb parents will start to hatch at about
27 weeks. Some hatching eggs are sold to local and regional hatcheries for production of
chicks only after satisfaction of the local day old chick requirements. Majorty of the hatching
eggs are transferred to the Commercial hatchery for hatching of broiler day old chicks.

Commercial Hatchery

Irvine’s is one of the largest producers of day old chicks in the region with two commercial
hatcheries situated on Derbyshire Farm in Waterfalls producing over 1 million chicks per
week. Both hatcheries are equipped with state of the art incubators to facilitate for hatching.
The fully air conditioned hatcheries utilises the latest cutting edge technology with in-ovo
vaccination (into the egg at 18 days of incubation) and automatic egg removal of infertile
eggs. Layer chicks are vaccinated automatically by machine and at the same time their beaks
are trimmed using laser technology. The day old chicks are transported to customers in
temperature controlled chick trucks so that chicks reach the customer’s doorstep in superb
condition. About 50% of the Cobb broiler chicks hatched are transferred to the Irvine’s
broiler production sites. Majority of H & N layer chicks are transferred to the Commercial
layers sites for table egg production. Irvine’s commercial hatchery was the first to be ISO 22
000 certified assuring customers of the best quality day old chicks in the country.

Broiler Production

Irvine’s Zimbabwe are up to date with technology and have a large number of controlled
environment sheds for broiler production situated on Derbyshire Farm in Waterfalls, Harare.
As part of Irvine’s Economic empowerment initiatives, about 60% of Irvine’s day old chick
production are supplied to indigenous contract farmers who grow the broilers on behalf of the
company and bring them back to the Irvine’s processing plant for slaughter. All contract
farmers have adhere to the strict Irvine’s and government veterinary bio security standards so
as to have farm to fork quality assurance.

Commercial Layers

Irvine’s Zimbabwe is one of the largest table egg producers in the region. The Commercial
layers farms are located on Derbyshire farm in waterfalls and in Harare South area. Irvine’s
are breeders of the German H & N layer which is ideal for table egg production because it
efficiently produces high proportion of large brown eggs popular in the Southern African
region. Table eggs are freshly picked daily and transferred to the Egg plant for grading and
packing.

Chicken Processing Plant

The Irvine’s Zimbabwe processing plant is situated on Derbyshire Farm in waterfalls. The
plant achieved a milestone in the history of food industry in Zimbabwe by being the first food
processing company in Zimbabwe to be certified by SABS, to ISO 22 000, an internationally
recognised food safety standard. The Irvine’s processing plant is now SABS FSSC 22 000
which is a quality level above ISO 22 000. The plant is equipped with state of the art
machinery that is essential in the production of superior quality chicken products.

Irvine’s has a modern processing plant able to process 250,000 chickens per week for sale
into the local retail and fast food outlets. The plant has a number of features such as
automatic scales, spiral freezer and automatic packaging to enable the production of high
quality chicken to international standards.

Egg Plant

The Irvine’s Egg plant is situation on Derbyshire Farm in Waterfalls. The egg plant is
accredited to ISO 22000, an internationally recognised food safety standard. The egg plant is
equipped with state of the art egg grading machines that automatically sort the eggs according
to weight. The machinery in the egg plant is designed to pack eggs in a variety of sizes to
satisfy the needs of customers. Eggs are graded at Irvine’s egg packing station where reject
and damaged eggs are removed. Eggs are then printed with Irvine’s name and automatically
packed into trays or smaller boxes for distribution across Zimbabwe.

Feed Mill

The Irvine’s feed mill is situated on Derbyshire Farm in waterfalls. The Mill takes care of the
feed requirements of our broiler and layer production farms. Our world-class quality
assurance ensures sterile and pathogen-free raw materials and production environment. We
also have an in-house Nutritionist who ensures that the feed recipes are designed to suit each
type of chicken at every stage of the production process for increased efficiency and more
importantly, improved quality of the end product.

It has a capacity of 25 tonnes of feed per hour and is able to produce a good quality high spec
ration. In addition the mill has considerable storage facilities in the form of grain silos and
bunker silos for non-grain products allowing Irvine’s to buy from the local market and store
for future use.

Zimvet Laboratory

Zimvet is a wholly own subsidiary of Irvine’s Zimbabwe. The Zimvet laboratory was the first
private lab in Zimbabwe to be accredited by SANAS, to ISO/IEC 17025 to perform
accredited testing services. ISO/IEC 17025 is an international quality standard directing the
general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.
For Irvines’ Zimbabwe, using a technically competent laboratory minimises the risk of
producing and supplying contaminated products. Zimvet offers Irvine’s Zimbabwe and its
customers the benefit of an increased level of confidence in the accuracy of the test results
that come with their products.