UCDA In Egyptian Venture
Dec 21, 2003
A joint venture between the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and TESCO Union to sell processed coffee in Egypt is about to kick off.
By Emmy Olaki
A joint venture between the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and TESCO Union to sell processed coffee in Egypt is about to kick off. Uganda holds a 60% stake, as well as providing the bulk of the initial capital.
Henry Ngabirano, the UCDA managing director said on Friday, “We are calling it ‘Life coffee’, because it is going to give life to the Uganda coffee industry.â€
He said that two tonnes of coffee have already been shipped to Egypt before opening the first cafe in Cairo.
He said the Egyptian deal is going to take a three-pronged approach.
“There will be a coffee shop or centre, that will be used to promote coffee and other Ugandan products like honey, horticultural products, art, crafts and fish. These have been identified as viable products to be promoted at the centre,†he said.
He said that the second approach will be retailing of roasted coffees. “Such coffees like Star coffee will be retailed by shipping it already roasted,†he said.
Finally green beans are to be shipped as raw material, because the Egyptian and the rest of the Arab market has a segment hat likes coffee with spices.
“Since we don’t have enough knowledge of spices, and may be we don’t even have them, we decided to capture this market as well,†he said.
In the deal, Uganda owns 60% of the shares in the venture, while TESCO union of Egypt owns the rest. Uganda provides 60% of the capital invested.
Ngabirano said that they tested the market because of perception that such markets tend not to like coffee roasted in a producing country, and also in consuming countries, coffee has been used as a blend.
“There was this belief that when coffee is roasted in a producing country, it becomes perishable. For all these perceptions, there is evidence that it can be overcome. Technology today overcomes all this,†he said.
“So as per plan, by the end of March we will be full swing in the market. By end of January, all the consignments should have been shipped. What we don’t have ready is only the packaging material,†he said.
Meanwhile, the coffee venture in Denmark is a joint venture between UCDA and the Uganda coffee house in Denmark. Danish of Uganda origin and some local people here including Salim Saleh own Uganda coffee house.
Ends
A joint venture between the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and TESCO Union to sell processed coffee in Egypt is about to kick off. Uganda holds a 60% stake, as well as providing the bulk of the initial capital.
Henry Ngabirano, the UCDA managing director said on Friday, “We are calling it ‘Life coffee’, because it is going to give life to the Uganda coffee industry.â€
He said that two tonnes of coffee have already been shipped to Egypt before opening the first cafe in Cairo.
He said the Egyptian deal is going to take a three-pronged approach.
“There will be a coffee shop or centre, that will be used to promote coffee and other Ugandan products like honey, horticultural products, art, crafts and fish. These have been identified as viable products to be promoted at the centre,†he said.
He said that the second approach will be retailing of roasted coffees. “Such coffees like Star coffee will be retailed by shipping it already roasted,†he said.
Finally green beans are to be shipped as raw material, because the Egyptian and the rest of the Arab market has a segment hat likes coffee with spices.
“Since we don’t have enough knowledge of spices, and may be we don’t even have them, we decided to capture this market as well,†he said.
In the deal, Uganda owns 60% of the shares in the venture, while TESCO union of Egypt owns the rest. Uganda provides 60% of the capital invested.
Ngabirano said that they tested the market because of perception that such markets tend not to like coffee roasted in a producing country, and also in consuming countries, coffee has been used as a blend.
“There was this belief that when coffee is roasted in a producing country, it becomes perishable. For all these perceptions, there is evidence that it can be overcome. Technology today overcomes all this,†he said.
“So as per plan, by the end of March we will be full swing in the market. By end of January, all the consignments should have been shipped. What we don’t have ready is only the packaging material,†he said.
Meanwhile, the coffee venture in Denmark is a joint venture between UCDA and the Uganda coffee house in Denmark. Danish of Uganda origin and some local people here including Salim Saleh own Uganda coffee house.
Ends