Kenya coffee farmer. [Photo/i.telegraph.co.uk]Sasini Ltd has announced an ambitious plan to diversify its markets in Europe, Middle East, and Asia to boost affiliated farmers’ incomes and cushion them against market volatility.
Group chairman Naushad Merali said the new strategy is in addition to other strategies such as deepening presence in the traditional markets, investment diversification and value addition of coffee, tea, macadamia, avocados and dairy products.
Addressing farmers during the 11th Farmers Open Day at the company’s Ndumberi Coffee Mill in Kiambu county, Merali said the company will set aside sufficient budget to facilitate aggressive marketing and networking with overseas buyers.
“In another 10 days, some officers will be traveling to Europe to secure more roasters who have expressed interest in working with Sasini Ltd,” he said.
Most of the country’s coffee is exported to Europe and the US, which has of late become a lucrative market. However, Merali noted that some market segments are still not tapped thus providing a good justification for the company to deepen its footprints in the 27- member European Union bloc.
“Our target is to deepen presence in old markets while focused on untapped but high potential market segments in EU,” he said. Merali disclosed that the market expansion plan would be further rolled out in the Asian and Middle East countries where demand for coffee has of late gone up due to an expansion of middle class and increase in economic growth.
“During the 2017 coffee season, critical contacts have been established and huge interest for our coffee developed.
We remain very optimistic that over 50 percent of the coffee handled at our mill this year will be sold directly to overseas buyers thus attracting premium prices for our farmers, ” he said. The company, he said, will fully exploit the coffee direct sales window that equally promises superior prices for smallholder farmers’ coffee.