Kerry expands East Africa operations with new manufacturing facility in Tanzania
TANZANIA – Kerry, a world-leading taste and nutrition solutions company, has opened its first manufacturing facility in Tanzania in a move aimed at facilitating volume growth and expansion while recognizing the current market conditions.
Tanzania, being the third largest economy in East Africa and ninth in Africa, is a fast-growing economy with a thriving food processing industry offering a crucial opportunity for the development and growth of the Ireland food company.
“Kerry believes in Africa and this new facility builds on our commitment to support the food processing industry locally and unlock the huge potential in the region,” said Kerry Group CEO Edmond Scanlon.
“Our wide portfolio of taste and nutrition technologies, coupled with our global expertise and local production, will enable us to give local customers access to high-quality ingredients with authentic taste produced in Africa, and will help us respond faster to the needs of our customers across the continent.’’
This move is another step towards realizing Kerry’s vision of creating a world of sustainable nutrition.
The facility will support the local food and beverage manufacturers taking into consideration its mover advantage in local food ingredients manufacturing in East Africa.
The investment follows an earlier move to increase Kerry’s African footprint with the launch of the largest and most advanced taste facility in South Africa.
Kerry also has a significant presence in East Africa following its acquisition of regional food ingredients supplier Afribon.
Afribon specialised in the development, production and marketing of food flavours, comprising five production sites, in Rwanda, Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
The combination of Kerry and Afribon brought technology leadership and sustainable growth while assisting clients with proprietary consumer insights in a bid to bring the next generation of food products to life through taste, health & wellness and sugar reduction.
Q3 earnings impacted by dairy business
Earlier, Kerry announced that it expects full-year earnings growth to be at the low end of its previously stated range following a sharp third-quarter decline in volumes and pricing in its small dairy business, the company said on Thursday.
It said taste and nutrition, which made up 94 per cent of Kerry’s €1.2 billion in earnings last year, was strongly positioned for volume and margin growth after volumes rose 1.6 per cent in the quarter and margins jumped 130 basis points.
However, dairy volumes tumbled 12.1 per cent from July to September to stand 6.2 per cent lower year-to-date, with a 17.6 per cent quarterly fall in pricing relating to “increased deflationary market dynamics”.
As a result Kerry, which also announced a €300 million share buyback programme on Thursday, said it expected full year earnings growth to be at the low end of its previously stated 1 to 5 per cent constant currency range.
