Success Stories - Malawi

“Wine that tastes like Africa” – The Linga Fruit Wine Story

Margaret Ngwira, Managing Director

In December 2020 while promoting our amazing fruit wine outside a Blantyre Supermarket, Malawi, a tall Kenyan said to my granddaughter “I do not like wine, but I like this: This wine tastes like Africa!” That felt so right! My late husband Timothy and I, staff members of University of Malawi, in 1978 were introduced by a retiring missionary to fruit wine making. Thus, began a long journey from a hobby which made many friends, to a topic for scientific research and finally in 2006, to the registration of Linga Fine Foods and Winery as a family partnership. We built a purpose-built small winery in a beautiful leafy garden, used also for many a merry wine tasting event.

Linga (a Fortress in Chichewa) adds value to the fruits of smaller farmers and assists students learn “Science in action.”  Currently we have three young women placement students learning the fun of hard work, creative thinking and taking pride in our product.  In addition to aiding in environmental conservation and ensuring the maintenance of the highest ethical standards, the active development of the vibrant Linga Fruit Wine brand produces unique fruit wines from seven fruits. These are acclaimed across the region. With the death of Dr Timothy Ngwira in 2018, the Family Partnership was no more. Bringing my sons in as Fellow Directors (I am Managing Director).

We have recruited an excellent Food Scientist Manager, we re-registered as Linga Fine Foods and Winery Limited and have been able to raise the brand to new heights. In addition, we have engaged in new regional markets apart from the UK online market @Africanosdrinks which we have been supplying for about 5 years. Locally we supply the major Chain stores such as Shoprite, Spar, Metro and quality hotels such as the Sunbird group, to name a few. Dr Ngwira was an analytical biochemist, passionate about quality. Linga Wine received MS178 Standard certification in 2010.

In 2020 Linga Wine became the first company in Malawi to attain Food Safety Management System Certification being MS-ISO22000 compliant. This assures our customers of safety and makes international export markets easier to penetrate. Having recently acquired additional land outside Lilongwe, we have planted more than 200 fruit trees with the view to expanding production from 25,000 liters to 100,000 liters and ensure a steady supply for the export market. So far Linga is entirely funded from our own resources but for the Winery expansion, we must investigate alternative funding sources as “This Wine tastes like Africa!”