Kakuzi board has said the Listed local superfoods grower and exporter will maintain a products and markets diversity strategy geared towards improving returns for shareholders.
Towards this endeavor, Kakuzi is preparing to make its initial investment in property development in the retail sector with the development of the Kakuzi Farmers Market.
The retail business to be situated opposite Kakuzi headquarters on the Nairobi-Nyeri highway will allow the firm to sell its recently introduced range of value-added products.
Kakuzi PLC has also revealed that it is in the final stages of a commercial appraisal process for the establishment of a full-scale Blueberries production venture to cost Sh4 Billion.
Addressing shareholders at the 95th AGM, Kakuzi Chairman Nick Ng’ang’a and Managing Director Chris Flowers assured them of boosted revenues from diversified produce for local and export markets.
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The agribusiness company is also planning to commission a Macadamia Oil Extraction Plant to meet the growing demand for value-added products within its superfoods portfolio.
Domestic sales of value-added macadamia products will also help mitigate challenges in the international arena due to a prevailing macadamia glut in the global market.
“We believe that the diversity of products, markets and routes to market are essential elements of Kakuzi’s business strategy,” said Flowers.
He added, “Having the combination of avocados, macadamias and hopefully blueberry as export crops to America, Japan, Europe, China, the Middle East and the UK, as well as a strong domestic value addition range, we believe, gives us the greatest opportunities to minimize risk and maximize returns in these difficult international market conditions.”
Ng’ang’a said the board will soon decide on Kakuzi’s blueberry venture saying the firm has the potential to grow 200 hectares of blueberry, raking in an extra Sh5 billion per year.
“This is an exciting opportunity that the Board is appraising keenly as it is a major undertaking with an estimated investment cost of around Sh4 billion,” opined Ng’ang’a.
Kakuzi has in the past five years expanded areas under avocado production from 798 to 987 hectares, macadamia orchards from 621 to 1,128 hectares and doubled avocado Packhouse capacity to 16 tonnes per hour with expanded cold chain solutions.
The firm has also built 19 separate earth dams holding 12 million cubic meters of water with the capacity to irrigate a total of 1,600 ha of macadamia, avocado and blueberry crops.
Kakuzi recorded a Sh845.8 million net profit for the financial year ended December 31, 2022, representing a 62per cent growth in profit after-tax.
The grower and exporter realized a historical record growth against its pretax profit, closing at Sh1.22 billion, a 159 per cent increase, from the Sh472 million posted the previous year.
The total sales revenue rose to from Sh3.2 billion to Sh4.4 billion posted the previous year on the back of extra sales for forestry, livestock, and blueberry produce in the local market.
The AGM settled on a Sh24 dividend payout, as earlier proposed by the Kakuzi Board and approved at the meeting on Wednesday, an increase from Sh22 payout the previous year.
Kakuzi further said the enhanced dividends will be paid on June 30, 2023 to all shareholders who will be on the members’ register at the close of business on May 31, 2023.
