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: Carrefour Opens New Branch
French supermarket chain Carrefour has launched a new outlet at the Business Bay Square Mall in Eastleigh, Nairobi. With the new addition, Carrefour now operates 20 stores countrywide, with 16 in Nairobi.
The move is part of the expansion of the retailer's footprint in the Kenyan market, where they face stiff competition from Naivas and Quickmart. Carrefour opened its first store in Kenya in 2016.
Nigeria: Arla Launches Farm in Kaduna State
Danish dairy giant Arla Foods has commissioned a new dairy farm in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The farm, located on a 200-hectare site, can accommodate 400 dairy cows and a total of 1,000 animals. It is also Arla's first dairy farm outside continental Europe.
The operational phase of the project is set to begin by the end of June. The farm can produce over 10 tonnes of fresh milk per day, which will be used exclusively for processing to meet the needs of the local market for various dairy products.
It will also provide training sessions and technical support to help around 1,000 local dairy farmers improve their yields, herd welfare, and breeding profitability. Nigeria currently produces 500,000 tonnes of milk annually, compared with a requirement of around 2.2 million tonnes according to official figures.
Botswana: Coca-Cola Inaugurates New Production Line
Coca-Cola Beverages Botswana (CCBB), a unit of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), has inaugurated a new state-of-the-art production line. The plant is the most advanced polyethylene phthalate (PET) production line in the country, according to the company.
With a capacity of 13,500 bottles per hour, the new line is expected to make the production of PET products more efficient and increase CCBB's productivity.
Algeria: Cevital Unveils Cooking Oil Production Plant
In Algeria, Cevital Group has inaugurated its cooking oil production plant in Béjaïa. Covering an area of over 1.2 hectares, the new plant has a daily crushing capacity of 22,000 tonnes of soybean, sunflower, and rapeseed. It will produce over 6,820 tonnes of cooking oil per day and 15,200 tonnes of oilseed cake for livestock feed.
The plant's production will be dedicated to the domestic market and for export, sourcing raw materials locally with the aim of creating a 100% Algerian cooking oil brand. The plant is expected to reduce the cooking oil import bill, as the country is the world's third-largest importer of soybean oil, behind India and Bangladesh, having purchased more than 600,000 tonnes in 2021.
Kenya: Rukuriri Tea Factory Unveils New Orthodox Processing Line
Rukuriri Tea Factory, an affiliate company of the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) in Embu County, has initiated plans to install an orthodox tea processing line worth Sh300 million ($2 million). The factory becomes the first in the county and the 12th in the country to install such a line for processing orthodox tea.
The move comes as KTDA seeks to invest in specialty tea, which fetches better prices in international markets compared to black tea.
Egypt: Ayman Shahin Commissions $20 Million Soft Drinks Plant
The Ayman Shahin Group, primarily operating in the food industry in Egypt, has inaugurated a non-alcoholic malt beverage unit. The production will be marketed under the brand Moussy, owned by Danish brewing giant Carlsberg. The new plant, costing a total of $20 million, is based on an 8,000-square-metre site in the city of 10th of Ramadan in the governorate of ach-Charqiya.
It has a production capacity of 30,000 bottles per hour, with 75% of the output meeting the consumption needs of the local market, while the remaining stock will be shipped to neighbouring markets in North Africa and the Middle East. Company officials expect the plant to generate sales of $13 million in its first 12 months of operation.
© 2023 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.
