A small and dusty village in Taveta Taveta, Kenya has entered into a lucrative deal to supply groundnuts to Upfield Company- the makers of the popular Blue Band.
What started as a small group in 2018, Tanafaka Cooperative Society has grown in leaps and bounds to the extent that they have now entered into a partnership with the world’s largest maker of spreads for supply of 100 tonnes of groundnuts.
The society has over 1 000 members who will be making their first delivery to the firm next month, which will mark the maiden crop to supply to the processor since the signing of the contract.
“We signed a contract with Upfield for the supply of 100 tonnes of groundnuts every month. This is a big move to our cooperative and the community at large that will benefit from the returns that we shall get from the sale of produce,” Peter Munyi, the chairperson of the Tanafaka Sacco, said.
Upfield is the largest plant-based foods company in the world and the number one producer of plant-based spreads globally including iconic brands like Flora, Country Crock, Rama and Becel.
The cooperative has signed the contract on behalf of farmers and after harvesting, they sell it to the company, which pays Sh100 for a kilo of the produce, the highest price to have been achieved.
