Boost for fruit farmers as Kwale processing plant reopens

What you need to know:

Feast Foods Processors Limited has said it has purchased 600,000 kilos of fruits mainly mango, pineapple and passion from Kwale and the neighbouring counties.
This has resulted in farmers receiving Sh12 million between May and July.
The company was established in 2014 to make fruit concentrates while creating a ready market for the fresh produce in the region.

About 5,000 farmers in the coastal region are expecting to see an increase in income following the purchase of fruits by a re-opened food processing company in Ukunda, Kwale County.

Feast Foods Processors Limited has said it has purchased 600,000 kilos of fruits mainly mango, pineapple and passion from Kwale and the neighbouring counties over three months it has been in operation.

This has resulted in farmers receiving Sh12 million between May and July. The company was established in 2014 to make fruit concentrates while creating a ready market for the fresh produce in the region.

It is owned by local investors including State-owned development finance institution Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) and Funguo Investment Limited valued at Sh100 million.

The processing comes at a period when tourism which forms the main source of income in the region was hard hit by travel restrictions as a result of the Covid-19, especially source markets in Europe and North America.

“We are happy that we have been able to double the buying price of fruits locally from the price offered by middlemen during the same period last year. As a result, this has acted as a motivation for farmers to produce more and we are now witnessing more farmers getting back into farming especially mango, passion growing in Kwale County,” FFPL General Manager peter Yegon said.

The company has said it will be providing income exceeding Sh600 million from the purchase of over 25,000 tons of fruit from the region once the company operates in full capacity.