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

Kenyan food processor SimpliFine enters baked goods market following acquisition of Ennsvalley Bakery

Oct 5, 2021Oct 5, 2021 Editor

KENYA – SimpliFine, a food production company offering fresh, locally-sourced meat, vegetables, baked goods, and other foods to restaurants, hotels, and retailers across East Africa has completed the acquisition of Kenyan based Ennsvalley Bakery. SimpliFine has taken full ownership of the premium baked goods manufacturer Ennsvalley, from Kenya’s leading milling company, Unga Group, in a deal that was entered through its cold chain logistic firm BigCold. With the acquisition, SimpliFine is set to inject US$500,000 worth of investment in the next six months into the operations. The investment is earmarked…

Unga Group benefits from past business dealings increasing its full year profit by 344%

Sep 30, 2021Sep 30, 2021 Editor

KENYA – Kenya’s leading milling company, Unga Group Plc, has seen its full-year profit for the year ended June 2021 grow by three-fold to Ksh.293.5 million (US$2.66m) from Ksh.66.2 million (US$599,000) attained the previous corresponding period. The 344% rise in earnings, is largely anchored on a 24.8% decline in finance costs to Ksh.150.6 million (US$1.36m) following a restructure of its bank facilities, reports Citizen News. At the same time, the processing company received payment for grain supplied in support of the government-led subsidy program in 2017. “The interest element of…

Unga Group taps into expertise of Premier Foods’ CEO Joseph Choge to be its new MD

Sep 6, 2021Sep 7, 2021 Editor

KENYA – Unga Group Limited, a major grain miller in Kenya, has announced the retirement of its long serving Managing Director Nicholas Hutchinson, effective December 31 2021. The holding company with investments in flour milling and manufacturing of human nutrition products and animal feeds, has tapped into Premier Foods’ CEO Joseph Malel Choge, to take over from Mr Hutchinson from December 1. The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed company said in a notice that Hutchinson would continue in an advisory capacity for a while to ensure a smooth transition, reports Business Daily.…

Unga Group partners with Dutch Nutreco to establish JVs in Kenya, Uganda

Aug 4, 2021Aug 4, 2021 Editor

KENYA – Unga Group, a Kenyan-based holding company with investments in flour milling and manufacturing of human nutrition products and animal feeds, has forged an investment agreement with Nutreco International B.V. to establish joint venture companies in Kenya and Uganda through its subsidiaries Unga Farm Care and Unga Millers. Under the agreement, Unga Farm Care, the region’s leading manufacturer and marketer of a broad portfolio of quality animal nutrition and health products, will invest in the establishment of a 50:50 joint venture company in Kenya with the Dutch animal nutrition…

Unga Holdings seeks to offload assets of bakery unit to cold chain logistic firm BigCold

Jul 27, 2021Jul 29, 2021 Editor

KENYA – Unga Group, a Kenyan-based holding company with investments in flour milling and manufacturing of human nutrition products and animal feeds has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Bigcold Kenya Limited for its subsidiary Ennsvalley Bakery Limited, as it seeks to cut costs and improve efficiency. The leading milling and baked goods company has indicated that the transaction is subject to meeting certain conditions prior to completion. “Following discussion, BigCold Kenya Limited and Ennsvalley Bakery Limited have entered into an asset purchase agreement on July 26, under which,…

Unga Group’s full year profit dwindles 88% on back of reduced demand, high production cost

Sep 28, 2020Sep 29, 2020 Editor

KENYA – Unga Group, a Kenyan-based holding company with investments in flour milling and manufacturing of human nutrition products and animal feeds has reported an 88% reduction in profits for the full year ended June 30, 2020, to Ksh66 million (US$608k) down from Ksh544.8 million (US$5m) reported in a similar period the previous year. The company attributes its near profit wipe out to reduced consumer demand along with the high cost of inputs mainly of maize and wheat grain purchases. Revenue however grew by 2% to Ksh18.3 billion (US$168.7m) from…

Unga Group’s half-year profits fall despite double digit growth in revenue

Mar 2, 2020Mar 2, 2020 Editor

KENYA – Unga Group Limited, a Kenyan-based holding company with investments in flour milling and manufacturing of human nutrition products and animal feeds has reported a decrease in profit to Sh151 million (US$1.48m) for the six months period ending December 31, 2019 from Sh306 million (US$3m) registered in the same period in 2018. The drop is attributed to reduced volumes in the animal nutrition segment and increased cost of wheat and maize grains. The low production and inflated costs were caused by unfavourable weather conditions in the year. Unga Group…

Unga Group reports 10.4% decline in revenue for the year ended June 2019

Sep 28, 2019Sep 30, 2019 Editor

KENYA – Unga Group Limited, a Kenyan-based holding company with investments in flour milling and manufacturing of human nutrition products and animal feeds has reported a 10.4% decrease in revenue to Ksh17.9 billion (US$172m) for the year ended 30th June 2019 from the previous year’s Ksh19.98 billion (US$192m). The Nairobi Stock Exchange listed firm’s finance costs went up by 83.7% to Ksh166.75 million (US$1.6m) as increased raw material costs was absorbed by the animal nutrition business thus constraining margins while supporting volume. The profit for the year decreased by 30%…

Kenya’s Unga Group mulls soya meal production line, banks on new wheat plant to drive growth

May 6, 2019May 6, 2019 Editor

KENYA – Unga Group Limited, a major grain miller in Kenya, has unveiled plans of setting up a soya meal production line in its Nairobi plant as it seeks to grow its investments in the grains and milling sector. The Seaboard-backed grain miller recently commissioned a new state-of-the art wheat milling plant in Eldoret with a 300-tonne daily milling capacity and a storage silo with a capacity of 15,000 tonnes in a bid to grow its production capacity. Commissioned in mid-December last year, the Eldoret plant is expected to more…

Unga Group to commission new Eldoret wheat mill, plans soya meal facility

Oct 5, 2018 Editor

KENYA – Seaboard-backed grain miller, Unga Group is set to commission a new 300 tonnes-a-day wheat milling plant next month, an expansion of the Eldoret facility that currently handles 250 tonnes. According to Business Daily, the company will also install a soya meal production facility at its Nairobi plant by June next year. Unga’s investment seeks to solidify its position in the wheat processing market while gaining a regional foothold given the increasing competition in the milling space. “The new 300 tonnes per day wheat mill in Eldoret is scheduled…