Togo-based Jus Délice produces natural pineapple juice for purchasers in Europe.
From Rwandan avocados and chillis to Nigerian cashew nuts and ginger, we spotlight 9 corporations which are efficiently exporting African meals merchandise to the worldwide market.
1. Capitalising on Rwanda’s avocado and chilli export potential
Entrepreneur Seun Rasheed, founder and CEO of SOUK Farms, is harnessing Rwanda’s capability for cultivating and exporting crops equivalent to avocados, chillis, and beans. SOUK Farms final 12 months celebrated its fourth birthday, however up till 2021, Rasheed was nonetheless employed as lead economist for Shell at one among its liquefied pure gasoline websites in Qatar. “It (the corporate) was meant to be arrange as a facet enterprise whereas I stored my very own job, however in a short time it grew into one thing that wanted me to be there full-time,” he explains.
In the mean time SOUK Farms exports to area’s equivalent to Europe and the Center East however Rasheed is bullish concerning the alternative for intra-African commerce; he believes that that is the place the actual progress potential lies. Learn the complete article
2. Nigerian dealer builds an agricultural exports enterprise
Lanre Awojoodu, CEO of Sourcing and Produce, initially targeting exporting cocoa from Nigeria to Europe, later broadening the corporate’s focus to incorporate commodities equivalent to cashew nuts and ginger. In 2021, the agency launched its personal label, So Pure, and established an internet presence with a storefront on Amazon. Focusing on the Nigerian diaspora within the US, So Pure gives an array of merchandise together with the traditional grain fonio, fufu flour (derived from starchy greens like cassava and yam), ofada rice (a kind of unpolished, parboiled rice indigenous to Nigeria) and pepper soup spice. These processed merchandise are sourced and packaged in Nigeria earlier than being exported to the US, the place Sourcing and Produce has additionally arrange an workplace in Wyoming. Learn the complete article
3. Supplying the American market with Nigerian superfoods
One other Nigerian entrepreneur tapping the American market is Shalom Bako Dangombe. When he was 14 years previous, his father relocated their household of 5 from Bauchi state in northern Nigeria to Orange County, California. There, Bako completed highschool and attended school, and at one level it regarded like he would decide to a future as knowledgeable soccer participant. He performed first at his school, the place he earned a communications diploma, and later the Los Angeles Galaxy.
But now, in his mid-thirties, Bako spends his days participating with smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria to develop hibiscus flowers for Afrivana, the corporate he established in 2019. Afrivana specialises in advertising and marketing and distributing African superfoods, notably dried hibiscus flowers. The corporate sells its merchandise in bulk or underneath non-public label to purchasers within the US, UK, and past. Learn the complete article
4. Businessman builds sizeable firm promoting West Africa’s dried fruit overseas
Hans Peter Werder established HPW in 1997, exporting recent pineapples from Ghana to Europe. Right this moment, HPW is among the largest producers of naturally dried mango, pineapple and coconut in Africa, processing over 30,000 tonnes of fruit a 12 months, and using round 1,500 folks in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
“The largest drawback for consumers in Europe is discovering a dependable supply of produce. They need to know precisely what they will count on they usually need to know issues as quickly as they come up. Key account administration is an actual subject – what number of producers in Africa have workplaces within the markets the place their prospects are based mostly? We have now one other firm, HPW AG, with an workplace in Switzerland, with further workers overlaying america and Japanese Europe. This implies we stay bodily very near our most vital prospects,” notes the corporate’s founder Hans Peter Werder. Learn the complete article
5. Exporting Made-in-Africa chilli sauce to fifteen nations
Africa’s intensive tracts of arable land, favorable local weather, and cost-effective labour current a considerable alternative for exporting packaged meals merchandise to developed nations. This potential is additional bolstered by a rising international curiosity in distinctive African meals. Capitalising on this pattern is Black Mamba, a chilli sauce producer established in Eswatini (previously generally known as Swaziland) in 2010. The corporate has efficiently penetrated worldwide markets, exporting to fifteen nations up to now, with the UK, Norway, and Germany being key locations. Learn the complete article
6. Squeezing extra worth out of Togo’s pineapples
Based mostly in Togo, Jus Délice specialises in producing pure natural pineapple juice, primarily supplying in bulk to European purchasers who then distribute it to numerous juice manufacturers. Gustav Bakoundah, the co-founder of Jus Délice, was educated in finance however has persistently been concerned in agriculture. In 2012, he established Label d’Or, an organization that sources and exports pineapples and different natural crops grown by Togolese smallholder farmers. Over time, Bakoundah sought to reinforce the worth of the pineapples regionally, moderately than exporting them solely as uncooked produce. He explored varied product prospects derived from pineapples, initially contemplating dried fruit, earlier than finally specializing in juice manufacturing. Nevertheless, he selected to not launch a client retail model, deterred by the prolonged fee phrases widespread amongst retailers. This led him to undertake a business-to-business mannequin. Learn the complete article
7. Cracking the worldwide cashew nut market
In 2015, Tanzanian entrepreneur Fahad Awadh established YYTZ Agro-Processing, an organization specialising within the processing and export of cashew nuts. Navigating preliminary challenges and hesitant financial institution managers, Awadh, alongside his father, invested in refurbishing a manufacturing facility in Zanzibar. By endeavor analysis expeditions to Vietnam, Awadh gained insights into environment friendly manufacturing methods and subsequently prioritised mechanisation in his operations. In 2016, YYTZ acquired a big increase with a $500,000 grant from the Africa Enterprise Problem Fund, which considerably augmented the corporate’s manufacturing capabilities. Presently, YYTZ markets its ‘Greater than Cashews’ model by on-line platforms and in supermarkets throughout East Africa, Europe, and North America. The corporate distinctively processes and seasons its cashews with native elements, together with Zanzibar sea salt. Learn the complete article
8. Fonio: West Africa’s underexploited supergrain goes international
Fonio, a gluten-free grain wealthy in dietary advantages, has been cultivated in West Africa for hundreds of years. It’s drought-resistant and grows efficiently with out the necessity for fertilisers, contributing to the restoration of natural matter in fallow soil. Regardless of its intensive historical past within the area, fonio stays under-commercialised.
Sustainable African Meals, a three way partnership between businessman Simballa Sylla, former CEO of the Mali-based shea butter firm Mali Shi, and the US-based African meals firm Yolélé, co-founded by chef Pierre Thiam and Philip Teverow, goals to capitalise on each regional and worldwide demand for fonio. The corporate is organising the world’s first industrial-scale fonio processing plant in Mali to supply processed fonio grains and flour. Learn the complete article
9. Made-in-Ghana chocolate firm exporting to Europe
Hendrik Reimers, CEO of Fairafric, visited a espresso plantation whereas travelling throughout Uganda on a sabbatical in 2013. Throughout his go to, the guides invited him to pattern the espresso. The plantation solely exported uncooked espresso beans, and Reimers was shocked the growers didn’t course of and package deal the espresso to promote it at a a lot higher value.
Sensing a niche out there, he returned to Germany, the place he labored in gross sales, to plan how he may produce value-added agricultural merchandise in Africa. Deciding on chocolate produced from cocoa beans, the entrepreneur launched his chocolate firm in 2016 by a crowdfunding platform and started operations in Ghana in the identical 12 months. Learn the complete article
