Company type | Public Private Partnership |
---|---|
Industry | Manufacture & Distribution of Orange and Mango Juice |
Founded | 2014 |
Headquarters | Arapai, Soroti, Uganda |
Key people | Julius Martin Ekomu CEO[1] |
Products | Fruit juice, fruit concentrate, packaged fruit |
Total assets | US$13.4 million (2019)[2] |
Number of employees | 150 (2019)[3] |
Website | www |
Soroti Fruit Processing Factory, also Soroti Fruit Factory, is a fruit processing plant in Soroti, Uganda.[4][5]
The factory is located in Arapai Industrial Park, in Arapai sub-county, Soroti District, on the outskirts of the city of Soroti, approximately 299 kilometres (186 mi), by road, north-east of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.[6] The geographical coordinates of the fruit processing facility are: 01°46'32.0"N, 33°37'05.0"E (Latitude:1.775556; Longitude:33.618056).[7]
The government of Uganda (GOU), with the assistance of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and in partnership with the Teso Tropical Fruit Growers Cooperative Union (TETFGCU), decided to establish a fruit processing factory in Soroti District to take advantage of the abundant citrus crop in the Teso sub-region and the high yield per tree. GOU provided the land, utilities, and infrastructure. KOICA set aside US$7.4 million for equipment and training and built the factory.[5] And TETFGCU will grow the fruit that the factory will process. Citrus fruit and mangoes are the principal fruits under consideration.[4]
The ownership of the factory is as depicted in the table below:[8]
Rank | Name of Owner | Percentage Ownership |
---|---|---|
1 | Uganda Development Corporation | 80.0 |
2 | Teso Tropical Fruit Growers Cooperative Union | 20.0 |
Total | 100.00 |
Construction of the factory began in April 2015 and was scheduled to be completed in May 2016. Installing and commissioning the machinery and equipment was anticipated from August 2016 to October 2016. The factory was scheduled to commence commercial operation in November 2016.[4][9]
After years of delay, the factory began test runs of its production lines in May 2018, with commercial commissioning planned for August 2018.[8] Production is planned to be phased, starting with one 8-hour shift and gradually increasing to two and eventually three daily shifts.[8][10]
Commercial production is expected to begin in April 2019. The factory has capacity to process six metric tonnes of fruit on a daily basis.[11]
On 13 April 2019, president Yoweri Museveni launched commercial production at the completed factory. At the beginning, 150 employees were hired, with the expectation to increase to 250 people when the factory runs at maximum capacity.[3]
In October 2019, the factory began producing mango juice under the label "Teju", short for "Teso Juice". It is expected that Teju will soon be served on the revived Uganda Airlines.[12]
In September 2023, following years of commercial losses, the government of Uganda decided to privatize the juice factory. It is expected that a knowledgeable and experienced investor will be able solve three major stumbling blocks that the factory faces: (a) lack of cash to buy all the fruit that the farmers produce (b) failure to process in a timely manner all the fruit that is procured. The factory needs to automate and (c) failure to sell all the juice produced by the factory.[13]
During Q4 2023, in an effort to increase efficiency and profitability, management changed tactics and stopped procuring raw fruit from middlemen and started buying directly from the farmers. In addition, to incentivize the farmers, each farmer receives back 10 percent of the juice extracted from the fruit that he/she sells to the factory. It is not clear if the farmer receives actual fruit juice or the value of the juice in monetary payment.[14]