Soroti Fruit Processing Factory

Soroti Fruit Processing Factory, also Soroti Fruit Factory, is a fruit processing plant in Uganda.[4][5]

Soroti Fruit Processing Factory

Type	Public Private Partnership
Industry	Manufacture & Distribution of Orange and Mango Juice
Founded	2014
Headquarters	Arapai, Soroti, Uganda
Key people	Douglas Kakyukyu Ndawula CEO[1]
Products	Fruit juice, fruit concentrate, packaged fruit
Total assets	US$13.4 million (2019)[2]
Number of employees	150 (2019)[3]

Location

The factory is located in Arapai sub-county, Soroti District, near the town of Soroti, approximately 292 kilometres (181 mi), by road, north-east of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.[6]

Overview

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 is building 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]

Ownership

The ownership of the factory is as depicted in the table below:[7]

Soroti Fruit Processing Factory Stock Ownership

Rank	Name of Owner	Percentage Ownership
1	Uganda Development Corporation	80.0
2	Teso Tropical Fruit Growers Cooperative Union	20.0
	Total	100.00

Timetable

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][8]

After years of delay, the factory began test runs of its production lines in May 2018, with commercial commissioning planned for August 2018.[7] Production is planned to be phased, starting with one 8-hour shift and gradually increasing to two and eventually three daily shifts.[7][9]

Commercial production is expected to begin in April 2019. The factory has capacity to process six metric tonnes of fruit on a daily basis.[10]

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.[11]

References

1. Simon Peter Emwamu and Simon Naulele (29 January 2020). "Hope fades as Soroti Fruit Factory fails to meet farmer expectations". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
2. Food Business Africa (4 January 2019). "Uganda to commission US$13.4 million mango and orange fruit factory". Foodbusinessafrica.com. Nairobi. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
3. George Asiimwe (13 April 2019). "Museveni Launches Soroti Fruit Factory". Kampala: ChimpReports Uganda. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
4. UDC (9 February 2015). "Soroti Fruit Factory Project". Kampala: Uganda Development Corporation (UDC). Retrieved 17 March 2016.
5. Felix Osujo, and James Odong (19 September 2014). "Museveni launches construction of Soroti fruit factory". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
6. GFC (17 March 2016). "Distance between Kampala, Central Region, Uganda and Arapai, Eastern Region, Uganda". Globefeed.com (GFC). Retrieved 17 March 2016.
7. Ismail Musa Ladu, and George Muron (22 May 2018). "After years of waiting, the fruit factory is now ready". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
8. Odyek, John (11 April 2016). "Soroti fruit factory experiences delays in completion". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
9. Nassali, Fatiah (17 May 2018). "Teso fruit factory set to open in August". Kampala: NilePost Uganda. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
10. Geoffrey Mutegeki (9 April 2019). "Museveni to commission Soroti fruit factory". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
11. Anthony Wesaka (24 October 2019). "Teso Juice To Grace Uganda Airlines Flights". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 28 October 2019.

External links

• New fruit factory to change farmers’ fortunes in Teso
• Progress at Soroti Fruit Factory being constructed at Arapai by UDC in collaboration with KOICA