Fruit supply shortages hit Britania Industries
Jan 20, 2009
BRITANIA Allied Industries has been hit by low supplies of passion fruits, forcing the company to import from Rwanda.
By Patrick Jaramogi
BRITANIA Allied Industries has been hit by low supplies of passion fruits, forcing the company to import from Rwanda.
“The demand for passion juice is high but the supply from the farmers is too low. We appeal to local farmers to come to our rescue. “This will save us from importing,†said Hasmukh Dawda, the chairman of House of Dawda.
Dawda, who addressed a press conference at their Ntinda factory last week, said the low supply of passion fruits, was hampering their production plans.
“Last year, we faced serious production problems due to low supplies. “We have the money to buy directly from the farmers but the supplies are not forthcoming,†he said.
“We spend over sh300m on purchase of passion fruits from local farmers,†he said. Dawda said they need between 500 and 1,000 tonnes of fresh passion fruit annually for juice production.
“Our appeal is for the Government to help farmers learn to produce in bulk and in quality in all seasons.
“Such shortages can frustrate investors,†Dawda said. Ajay Gupta, the production general manager, said the current demand for passion fruits stands at 500 tonnes.
“We need 500 tonnes of passion fruits starting from next month when the season sets in,†he said. He said they had staked sh300m for purchasing 500 tonnes of passion fruits with each kilogramme of passion being purchased at sh600.
“We are currently getting supplies of mangoes from farmers though the rate of supplies is still low. We need between 3,000 t0 4,000 tonnes of mangoes to meet the growing demand of mango juice across the Great Lakes region,†he said.
He said the types of passion fruits needed are those known locally as the Kasese or the purple one. Britania Allied Industries also manufactures biscuits, confectioneries, artificial drinks and sauces.
The group, that was formed in 1992 as small unit for manufacturing biscuits and bread, has five separate plants for production of biscuits, confectionery, powders, fruit juice and drinking water.
BRITANIA Allied Industries has been hit by low supplies of passion fruits, forcing the company to import from Rwanda.
“The demand for passion juice is high but the supply from the farmers is too low. We appeal to local farmers to come to our rescue. “This will save us from importing,†said Hasmukh Dawda, the chairman of House of Dawda.
Dawda, who addressed a press conference at their Ntinda factory last week, said the low supply of passion fruits, was hampering their production plans.
“Last year, we faced serious production problems due to low supplies. “We have the money to buy directly from the farmers but the supplies are not forthcoming,†he said.
“We spend over sh300m on purchase of passion fruits from local farmers,†he said. Dawda said they need between 500 and 1,000 tonnes of fresh passion fruit annually for juice production.
“Our appeal is for the Government to help farmers learn to produce in bulk and in quality in all seasons.
“Such shortages can frustrate investors,†Dawda said. Ajay Gupta, the production general manager, said the current demand for passion fruits stands at 500 tonnes.
“We need 500 tonnes of passion fruits starting from next month when the season sets in,†he said. He said they had staked sh300m for purchasing 500 tonnes of passion fruits with each kilogramme of passion being purchased at sh600.
“We are currently getting supplies of mangoes from farmers though the rate of supplies is still low. We need between 3,000 t0 4,000 tonnes of mangoes to meet the growing demand of mango juice across the Great Lakes region,†he said.
He said the types of passion fruits needed are those known locally as the Kasese or the purple one. Britania Allied Industries also manufactures biscuits, confectioneries, artificial drinks and sauces.
The group, that was formed in 1992 as small unit for manufacturing biscuits and bread, has five separate plants for production of biscuits, confectionery, powders, fruit juice and drinking water.