AFRICA'S NO.1 FOOD, BEVERAGE & MILLING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

2 Sisters Food Group invests US$10.36m into upgrading facilities at UK poultry factory

Jul 27, 2021Jul 27, 2021 Editor

UK – 2 Sisters Food Group, one of the largest privately-owned food manufacturing companies in the UK, is investing £7.5m (US$10.36m) into modernizing facilities at its UK poultry processing factory. The site, based on Sandycroft Industrial Estate in Wales, processes one million birds a week and is a major supplier to the UK’s largest supermarkets, as well as providing wholesale products to KFC. According to Food Manufacturer, the investment has enabled the installation of new technology including automated packing lines, new packaging machines, and x-ray bone detection machinery for fillet production. The investment which has also seen upgrading of cutting…

Kenya’s leading meat processing company QMP Group set for growth following Tana Africa Capital’s investment

Jul 24, 2021Jul 24, 2021 Editor

KENYA – Mauritius based holding company, Africa Protein Holdings Limited, owners of Quality Meat Packers Ltd and Anirita Poultry Farm Plc, have received backing from Africa-focused investment company, Tana Africa Capital. The leading Pan-African private equity firm has undertaken the equity investment through its second fund Tana Africa Capital II, acquiring a minority stake in the company for an undisclosed amount. The Velji family remain the majority owner of the business, with the support aimed to transform its Kenya based business, QMP Group, into a leading African meat processing company…

Impossible Foods to debut plant-based chicken nuggets as competition in alternative protein market heats up

Jul 19, 2021Jul 21, 2021 Editor

US – Impossible Foods has announced plans to launch a plant-based chicken nugget, a few weeks after its competitor Beyond Meat launched its meat-free chicken tenders in more than 400 stores across the United States. Impossible Foods said its nuggets, which are soy-based and use sunflower oil, will first launch in restaurants and then roll out to grocery stores. According to the meat alternative startup, the chicken nuggets will not use any of Impossible Foods’ plant-based heme — the company’s ingredient that replicates the meaty taste of beef and pork. Impossible Food’s chicken nuggets are…

Ghana suspends importation of poultry from neighboring countries following bird-flu outbreak

Jul 19, 2021Jul 19, 2021 Editor

GHANA – Ghana is on high alert following reported cases of spread of the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza in the country, that could affect about 600,000 farm animals. The West African country has confirmed an outbreak of the bird flu in seven farms located at the Greater Accra, Volta and Central regions. According to Patrick Abakeh, Director of veterinary services at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), nearly 6,000 birds were found to have died of the H5N1 avian flu, with the veterinary department forced to destroy 4,500 chickens…

Cameroonian animal feed producer expands operation with US$9m investment in new plants

Jul 2, 2021Jul 2, 2021 Editor

CAMEROON – Cameroonian animal feed producer, SPC (Société des provenderies du Cameroun), is undertaking a XAF5 billion (US$9m) investment plan to expand its footprint in the country. According to the company, it seeks to open two new plants in Yaoundé and Nkolmelen, to produce animal feeds and a set up a hatchery. The investment is aimed to meet the rising local demand and the plants will be an addition to its Bafoussam facility. “We have noticed that the animal farming industry is booming in Cameroon. The boom is so notable…

SA agritech startup Omniolytics launches precision poultry farming technology powered by IBM

Jun 25, 2021Jun 25, 2021 Editor

SOUTH AFRICA – South African agritech startup Omniolytics, has developed a suit of smart farming solution for emerging and commercial poultry farmers in the country. The digital farming platform, OmnioFarm, is aimed to enable poultry farmers make informed, real-time decisions on potential threats and forecast dangers within the broiler house facility. The solution is powered by IBM’s Watson and machine learning capabilities to identify and learn the typical behaviour of birds, thereby improving management practices. It uses Internet of Things (IoT) to collect data on the environmental conditions of production…

Europe poultry exports plummet as region experiences one of the largest Avian Influenza epidemics ever

Jun 10, 2021Jun 10, 2021 Editor

EUROPE – Poultry exports from Europe decreased significantly following the February-May 2021 European High Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) season described as “one of the largest and most devastating HPAI epidemics ever occurred in Europe.” According to statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture, the 2020-2021 HPAI epidemic counts 3,555 detected infections in 27 European countries including 22 EU member states, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. USDA notes that the epicenter of the HPAI epidemic appears to have been in Germany and Poland, with the former country detecting the…

Ethiopia’s leading poultry company EthioChicken Group receives US$5m backing from Finnfund

Jun 2, 2021Jun 2, 2021 Editor

ETHIOPIA – Ethiopia’s leading producer of day-old-chicks and poultry feed, EthioChicken Group has received US$5m equity investment from OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I, the first global emerging markets impact fund in Finland. Finnfund, a Finnish development financier and impact investor acts as an anchor investor and advisor to the fund. The financing, which is a follow-on investment from Finnfund’s backing of the company in 2017, is aimed to generate jobs, improve food security and reduce poverty in Ethiopia. “We are very happy to welcome OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund…

Nigeria set to welcome coconut oil processing factory aimed to boost the economy

May 25, 2021May 25, 2021 Editor

NIGERIA – Nigeria is nearing completion of the new coconut oil processing factory in Akwa Ibom State, Southern part of the country. The facility known as Gabriel’s Coconut factory, is set to commence operations in September this year. This was revealed by the State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, while inspecting the installation of production lines at the factory. According to the state government, the plant will have a processing capacity of 300,000 coconuts per shift, translated to an out-put of 66 tons in a day from three shifts of production. To…

JBS to invest US$351m in expanding Brazilian poultry production capacity to meet market demand

May 21, 2021May 21, 2021 Editor

BRAZIL – JBS, a Brazilian company that is the world’s largest processor of fresh beef and pork, has announced an investment of BRL 1.85 billion (approximately $351.5 million) to expand its production capacity in Paraná, southern Brazil. The meat processing giant said that the investment will be made over the next five years and aims to expand capacity in one of Brazil’s biggest poultry-producing states. As part of the project, JBS plans to construct a new prepared foods factory in the state, as well as modernise and expand its current…