Supporting local farmers

It started as a simple business idea on food products and grew gradually. After just four years of existence, Jennifer Bash has managed to take her business beyond Tanzanian borders. Today you can find her products in the shelves of supermarkets in some East African countries.

According to her, creating a successful business or an industry is not as easy as one may think, but “it can be easier with determination and when the business model itself is based on a simple idea,” she affirms. 

AKTZ Industries Ltd was registered in March 2011 in Tanzania and started its business operations in November 2012. Jennifer, an entrepreneur, owns AKTZ Industries Ltd which produces food products she branded as Alaska Tanzania.

What Jennifer is doing is just to add value to food products, especially locally produced agricultural products and link its supplier-members to the supply-value chain. Main products currently at the market are rice and eggs, which are packed and distributed under the Alaska Tanzania brand.  

There is a stereotype among most Tanzanians that supermarkets are the reserves of the rich people and middle class ones. Most of the lower class people, whom you are likely to find doing shopping at local markets around the city, do not often visit supermarkets. And if you ask them why, apart from being scared of the prices, they will tell you that most products in the supermarkets are imported ones and they like to get locally produced food products.

An opportunity

For Jennifer, that was an opportunity. Her regular shopping in various supermarkets in Dar es Salaam made her develop a business idea. She felt that something can be done to put locally produced food products in supermarket shelves. With just a simple and random observation in supermarkets around the city she realised that she can venture into the business and exploit the vacuum.

“The business idea came around 2012. I asked myself why most food products such as rice, eggs and the likes displayed in supermarket shelves are imported and does this mean that they cannot be sourced locally?” she queried.

However, for her, the answer was yes, the products are plenty and could be sourced locally. The most challenging aspect was that local producers who grew the products or the middlemen who buy the products from farmers cannot pack and brand the products to meet the standard appealing not only to customers but also to supermarket owners for them to put the goods on their shelves.    

“So I saw the gap, I realised what the problem was and decided to jump in to find the solution,” she says. Now, Jennifer, through her Alaska Tanzania brand, links local farmers to the market by sourcing products from them, adds value to them through processing, branding and packaging and then sells them to supermarkets and hotels in Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Arusha and Moshi regions.

“Today, Giraffe, Holiday Inn and White Sands hotels in Dar es Salaam are among our customers,” said the mother of three.

In 2012, Jennifer, the co-founder and CEO of AKTZ Industries Ltd, started with one product, Alaska Tanzania Eggs and after a year in business, she introduced Alaska Tanzania Rice in the market. According to her, what is most satisfying is the fact that the products are doing well in the market and the farmers are much happier than they were before she started linking them to the market.

“The farmers are really benefiting now because they know that they have a reliable market for their produce. Unlike before where they just produced without knowing where to sell, lack of a reliable market became a major problem facing our local farmers,” she explained.

With a good business mind, Jennifer has created a network of farmers that she deals with. “We have formed a network of farmers whom we trust and we have regular contact with,” she said, adding that the network expands as the market grows.

Jennifer’s success in business did not come out of the blues. A good background in business coupled with academic training has given her a wide experience in product supply-chain management. She holds a Bachelor Degree in International Marketing from Baruch College, in the City of New York, USA as well as an Advanced Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Business Management (ACEBM) from University of Dar es salaam, offered by the Goldman Sachs Foundation

Jennifer’s father is a businessman too and according to her, she feels as if she’s inherited her father’s business mind.  Now she’s planning to introduce more products in the market. According to Jeniffer, Alaska Tanzania Brown Rice, Alaska Tanzania Pure Sunflower Oil, Alaska Tanzania Beans and Alaska Tanzania Maize Flour will be in the supermarket shelves in the near future.

She said Alaska Tanzania Rice and Eggs are sold in 23 supermarket branches in Dar es Salaam including Nakumatt, Shoppers, TSN, Village, Game, Food Lovers Market, City at Harbour View Tower, Maisha at City Mall, V-Marche, Shrijee, Amal, and Homes Hyper Market at Mkuki House.

“Alaska Tanzania Eggs are packed in 6-pack, 15-pack and 30-pack. Alaska Tanzania Pure Sunflower Oil will be in the market soon, packed in 2.5liters and 5 liters,” explained Jennifer.

Potential to create growth

“We have the potential in the near future to create sustainable growth in the income of local farmers who are our supplier-members by introducing new products and expanding our market,” she said.

“The company pays our supplier-members a fair market price for their produce compared to middlemen who exploit them by offering farmers a low farm price as most of local farmers lack reliable market and they do not have effective marketing and distribution capabilities,” she added, we are now focused on establishing a close working relationship with women farmers and youth who have ventured into agriculture.

“Working closely with women farmers will in return provide our company with a reliable source of high-quality produce that meet our target market; hotels, supermarkets and in the mining as well as oil and gas industries,” she explained.

According to Jennifer, AKTZ was founded on the principles of deep understanding of the local business content, experience in product supply-chain management, hard work and dedication to support local farmers in Tanzania. With the dedication she has in the business, she is optimistic that AKTZ stands to make more profit by scaling up its trading activity, and the supplier-members stand to generate more revenue through higher prices and volumes of sales.

She said that the company now focuses more on value addition through processing, packing, branding, and shipping the products from the farm to urban areas in Tanzania and outside Tanzania. This value addition includes smart branding; packaging that promotes market demand, and superior quality control. 

“The company has played a significant role in creating employment to women and youth in Tanzania. Currently, the company has 15 employees; 10 women and five men. As the company grows, we believe that more women and youth will find employment through AKTZ Industries Ltd,” noted Jennifer who is currently enrolled in a highly competitive one-year accelerator programme for women owners of small and medium businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa, offered by the Vital Voices Global Partnership.

Vital Voices Global Partnership is the preeminent non-governmental organisation that identifies trains and empowers emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs around the globe, enabling them to create a better world for us all.

It is from these women programmes where connection with other business women is enabled and from there most of the women are taught on how to become change agents in their governments, advocates for social justice, and supporters of democracy and the rule of law.

Also, the business programme equips women with management, business development, marketing, and communication skills to expand their enterprises, help to provide for their families, and create jobs in their communities.

“The programme has mentors who work with business owners in order to show us which way to go as most businesswomen do not grow; most of them end up doing small businesses. They teach most women how to grow in business and become big companies and to stay at and maintain that level; how to keep financial records and how to recruit and deal with employees,” noted Jennifer, who received the 2016 Women’s Award of Excellence in the Agribusiness Sector by Clouds Media Group.

For Jennifer, time is really of the essence as the saying goes; “Time is money”. She advises local entrepreneurs to use their time wisely, both during and off work time and use their ample time to strategise and think how they can make their business grow. “They should use their time today to think and plan for tomorrow,” she said.