Relief Food Factory to Open in Kenya

Pan-African food giant Promasidor is setting up a Ksh 550 million relief food factory in Kenya. The company name will be `Nutro Manufacturing EPZ'. It is anticipated that 11 countries in the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region namely: Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern DRC will be served by the factory helping to bridge the gap between the fortified blended foods demand and supply in the region. The food will be targeted at NGOs and relief organizations working in famine situations.

The factory is located in the Export Processing Zone in Athi River, 30 Kilometres from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and will begin operations on August 31st. Nutro's location in Africa will enable a more rapid response in times of need than is currently possible where agencies have to await shipments to arrive from overseas.

Annual production is expected to reach 35,000 metric tonnes per year. An immediate impact on local farming is anticipated as Nutro will purchase 27,000 tonnes of maize (300,000 bags) and 8000 tonnes of Soya beans (160,000 bags) every year, when operating at full capacity.

The new blended fortified food plant will utilize state of the art technology to ensure that the products meet the exact standards of aid agencies and NGOs. The manufacturing process will allow for the addition of different elements to cater for special cases e.g. HIV/aids patients, malnutrition and starvation. Additives will include sugar, milk powder, vitamins and proteins.

The company will also boost school feeding programmes initiatives by NGOs and relief food organizations across the region as the nutritional value of the foods are appropriate for such programmes.

For more information please contact: Bob Odhiambo Account Manager Silver Bullet PR&Events Tel. 254-020-556011, Fax. 551335/6 Mobile:254722203406/ 254733605778 Bob_Odhiambo@ke.yr.com