Farmers to benefit as Inyange introduces fruit cocktail juice

FRUIT farmers in the country are expected to reap big from their produce following Inyange Industries Ltd’s launch of the fruit juice cocktail brand which would prop up fruit supply to the country’s largest food processor. Sudadi Kayitana, the Managing Director of Inyange Industries Ltd says that the new brand that will have a mixture of pineapples, oranges and passion fruits is likely to prompt farmers to produce more fruits to increase their incomes.“Our demand is going to go up in the same spirit like our volumes; so this is a market expansion for farmers as they will have a ready market,” he said during the launch of the brand during the ongoing Prosperity Exhibition taking place at the PSF Grounds in Gikondo, Kigali. Inyange Industries currently procures over 160 tonnes of pineapple and 90 tonnes of passion fruits a month for its pineapple and passion fruit drinks production. This signifies that demand for more fruits is likely to shoot up after the introduction of the new brand.“One of the key responsibilities we have is to maintain our market share; it is also in terms of expansion to be able to meet all market demands,” Kayitana said.Kayitana revealed that the brand will be available in bottles with a shelf life of three months. Plans are however underway to package the brand in Tetra Pak packages with a shelf life of one year, a move that will help the company to maintain its lion’s market share of fruit beverages.“This is adding value to our brands and also to compete with other brands that are imported into the country.“The mixed fruit cocktail is a brand on its own; so now they (consumers) have a ready product in the shops,” he said adding that the move is also a result of the market response.Inyange Industries currently produces orange, passion fruit, pineapple and apple fruit juices. It also processes and packages milk as well as milk products such as yogurt for both local and export markets. The company is also the market leader in bottled mineral water. Commenting on the new development, a local fruit farmer and dealer, Cadette Nsabimana pointed out: “What we need as farmers is to have a market for our fruits because they go bad when we don’t get a ready market. We shall be able to increase our production if there is ready market.” The firm’s move is likely to help government to cut down on import of fruit juices.“We should not be importing juice and milk. We have less dollars, so spending these dollars on importing juice and milk doesn’t make sense. So we should diversify and capture the whole market,” the chairman of Crystal Ventures Ltd, Manasseh Nshuti, told Business Times in an interview. Crystal Ventures is a local investment company with a controlling stake in the food processing firm. He added that Inyange Industries would continue to step up production to meet their demand.Nshuti however lamented about the quality of produce that farmers supply to Inyange Industries. “The farmers are not responding as much as we want and the problem is always on the quality especially in the value chain down there.”Experts say that there is need to assist farmers to improve on quality to streamline the value chain mainly in milk production.

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Farmers to benefit as Inyange introduces fruit cocktail juice