Pushing boundaries in the textles sector, a 100-year plan by Lilly Alfonso - 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!”
Pushing boundaries in the textles sector, a 100-year plan by Lilly Alfonso
For two consecutive years, 2019 and 2020, she was awarded the International Fashion Designer Award in Cairo, Egypt for her contribution to the fashion and creative industry. She was also honoured with a Fashion Living Legend Award at UMP awards 2019 in Blantyre, Malawi. From 2018, she has participated in Creative Africa Exchange (CAX), a program by Afreximbank (Africa Export-Import Bank). Because of her influence in fashion and creative industry, Afreximbank, in 2020 she was appointed as a goodwill ambassador for Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2021 scheduled for September 2021 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Over the years, Lilly Alfonso's work has continually drawn international media attention: she has been interviewed on some of the world’s top news networks namely; CNN, VOA and BBC. Driven by passion, she uses her life experience, social standing and entrepreneurial journey to give back to the community. She has been involved in several projects both in her country and abroad to educate, inform and support others especially women. She has been a speaker at numerous women conferences across Africa to share her life and entrepreneurial journey.
The Brand
The fashion design label that has evolved over the years to become one of the top fashion labels in Malawi and slowly becoming a global fashion brand. It was founded in 2005 by the award-winning fashion designer, Lilly Alfonso. A manufacturer of an upscale clothing line targeting both men and women. Lilly Alfonso has subsidiary brands namely LAmann, LAwomann and the newly introduced LAsport which was launched in 2017. Men’s wear collection is under the LAmann label while the women’s wear collection is under LAwomann. The LAsport collection is still under development and has not been put on the market yet.
With over 10 years of experience in fashion design and tailoring, Lilly Alfonso has proven that with passion, dedicated and hard work one can flourish. This has been achieved through working with a diverse team of creative and open-minded individuals. This has contributed tremendously to the future of Lilly Alfonso.Currently, the company gives equal opportunities to those with interest to discover their talents and develop themselves in order to improve their socioeconomic status. Young men and women are offered business mentorship, internship and fashion & design lessons. The company has employed school drop-outs, single mothers and other less privileged individuals over the past decade.
The 100-Year Plan
Lilly Alfonso saw a need to change the future and she came up with a plan that requires little resources. A plan to inspire, educate, support and motivate young passionate individuals. With focus on but not limited to personal development, talent & skill discovery and entrepreneurship, she uses fashion & design to reach out to communities and to effect mindset change to unlock limitless potentials.
Lilly Alfonso’s mission is to see those that are given this chance do the same for others. She calls her initiative “A 100-Year Plan”. What can be taught to the current generations can be passed on to the next generations for the next hundred years. And, Lilly Alfonso envisions African utopia in the next century. However, that ideal Africa starts now. Every time Lilly Alfonso outfit is sold, there is direct and indirect contribution to this course and buyers become part of this 100-Year life-changing journey.
