ETHIOPIA – PepsiCo, one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies has acquired majority stake in Senselet Food Processing Plc in Ethiopia from Veris Investments, a growing and influential investment company, who will maintain a minority interest in the company.
Senselet is a Crisps processing company in Ethiopia, cementing its lead in the market with the SUN Chips brand available in the flavours Habesha Spice, Paprika and Natural and in various pack sizes.
PepsiCo has joined Veris Investments to further grow the business and develop potato sourcing programmes in the country.
Senselet was founded by Veris Investments in 2015. It’s factory, located around 65km from Addis Ababa, is a modern production facility operating in line with high food safety and quality standards.
Veris Investments set up Senselet with the aim to build a business that would contribute to the development of the potato value chain in Ethiopia. The company now employs more than 150 people.
In addition to that the company has established strong business partnerships with local farmers over the past three years. It has been facilitating a farmer training program with the aim to increase yields and produce high quality potatoes.
“PepsiCo shares our commitment to work with small and medium scale Ethiopian farmers as well as developing the potato value chain and sustainable farming in Ethiopia,” said Juliette de Wijkerslooth, managing director of Veris Investments.
“Having PepsiCo as a partner will enable Senselet to leverage their extensive global expertise on potato cultivation, manufacturing and go-to-market capabilities as to further grow the company,” she added.
From its inception, Veris has partnered with the Government of Holland through the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, the Ethiopian Institute of Agriculture Research and the Wageningen University and Research, to sustain and expand its operations.
Last year, Veris teamed up with Dutch owned FrieslandCampina to invest in the operations of Holland Dairy Ethiopia, as it expands into dairy production such as milk and yogurt.
Within Ethiopia, Holland Dairy has established itself to work towards in the areas of food security and works with local farmers with the production of its raw materials.
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