Here’s the latest in ESM’s regular series, Notes From Africa, which brings you the latest retail, consumer goods, and food and beverage stories from across the African continent. Past editions can be found here.
Kenya: Avocado Processing Plant To Be Operational By September
In Kenya, the Kisii County government has signed a partnership agreement with food company Avo Fresh to start operating an avocado processing plant. The unit will have a processing capacity of 100 tonnes of fruit per day. Scheduled to be operational by next September, it will extract oil for food and cosmetic purposes. According to the authorities, the new facility is expected to boost production and improve the incomes of more than 270,000 people operating in the fruit value chain.
South Africa: Berda Fruit Establishes Fruit Packing Station
Berda Fruit Hong Kong, a Chinese importer of fruit from southern hemisphere countries, has commenced operations at its packing station in South Africa. The new fruit packing plant stands on a 3,000-square-metre facility in Addo, a suburb of Port Elizabeth. It aims to boost South Africa's already high citrus export volumes to China. According to reports, it has a daily packing capacity of 120 to 150 bins of sweet citrus, 200 to 220 bins of lemons and 300 to 350 bins of oranges per day. South Africa is the world's second biggest citrus exporting country, after Spain.
Kenya: Naivas Food Market Planning Two Further Outlets
Naivas Food Market has announced plans to open two further stores in Kenya, following the opening of its first four outlets. Each of the stores has a surface area of between 2,500 and 6,000 square metres, and were developed by JosDeVries in co-operation with Renova. The two companies worked with local manufacturers on the development of the stores – for example, the wooden covers for the fresh department are made of wood chips that are a residual product from the local woodworking industry.
Nigeria: Fan Milk Inaugurates Dairy Farm
Fan Milk Nigeria, a subsidiary of the French group Danone, has inaugurated a dairy farm in Odeda in Ogun State. Once fully operational, the farm should produce 1.4 million litres of milk by 2024. As part of this investment, a dairy training institute and a milk collection centre are also expected to be established in Nigeria.
Tunisia: Tomato Production Facility Set For Gabes
The Tunisian government has allocated a 200-hectare site to the Farhet El Hicha company for the implementation of a horticultural project in Gabes, in the south east of the country. At a total cost of 650 million dinars (€208.6 million), the initiative will see the construction of a greenhouse dedicated to the production of tomatoes. The project will span a period of five years and will produce between 35,000 and 40,000 tonnes of tomatoes annually for export. According to the authorities, this investment, which is part of a Tunisian-Dutch partnership, should contribute to the creation of 4,000 new jobs. Tunisia produces about 1.2 million tonnes of tomatoes per year.
Zambia: Zambeef To Invest $100 Million In Expansion
In Zambia, agri-food company Zambeef Products is set to invest $100 million in its expansion strategy over the next three to five years. The move will increase the group's operations at Mgongwe Farm, where it grows maize, soybeans and wheat on a site of nearly 23,000 hectares. Most of the resulting crops are used for animal feed and flour milling businesses. The company is the largest integrated cold chain food products and agribusiness company in Zambia and one of the largest in the Southern Africa region.
Morocco: Forafric To Expand Wheat Milling Capacity
Moroccan miller Forafric has hired the services of the Turkish leader in milling equipment, Alapala, to increase its soft and durum wheat processing capacity. The project, which will be carried out over the next 30 months, includes the expansion of the capacity of three existing mills and the construction of three new units at a total cost of 1 billion dirhams (€98.1 million). According to officials, the investment will increase the site's wheat crushing capacity to 2,370 tonnes per day, from the current 470 tonnes.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest A-brand news. Article by Espoir Olodo. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
