Intersnack and ACA Roll out ACA Seal in East Africa
The ACA seal is taking off in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. The food safety, quality and social compliance program was developed by ACA in cooperation with Kraft Foods and Intersnack to improve the competitiveness and market access for the African cashew processing industry.
From December 3-7, an Intersnack quality expert and the recently-appointed new Sourcing Manager – Africa, accompanied by ACA Managing Director Christian Dahm, visited cashew processors in East Africa to introduce the Global Food Safety as well as the Global Social Compliance initiatives and explain how the ACA seal program relates to these initiatives. The delegation visited factories, advised processors on technical issues related to international standards and met with farmer groups in the region.
“What an impressive trip, very encouraging! The industry is busy here, there are plenty of opportunities for farmers as well as processors in Africa,” the Intersnack representative said.
The most recent ACA Member to join the seal program is Southern Jumbo Cashew of Tanzania, the first East Africa-based company to begin implementation. Mr. Edgar Maokola-Majogo, CEO of Southern Jumbo and an ACA Vice President, has joined the Quality and Sustainability initiative by investing in a cashew processing facility in Dar es Salaam.
From 23-24 November, ACA Business Advisor Sunil Dahiya visited the Southern Jumbo facility, where he launched the ACA Seal initiative after completing a primary assessment of the company and provided immediate recommendations for improved cashew processing and food safety conditions. Southern Jumbo is a newly established processor that began operations in March, 2012.
Southern Jumbo is eager to expand processing capacity in the coming year through gradual growth and improved productivity, while also generating positive social and economic positive impact in the local community where the facility is located. On the first of several technical assistance visits that are part of the Seal implementation program, Dahiya shared technical expertise on food safety, grading, international quality standards, best processing techniques implementation and provided recommendations on maximizing human and machine performance to Southern Jumbo’s section supervisors. He further assessed additional finance and equipment requirements for company for the future expansion of their processing operations.
East African excitement about the Seal extends beyond Tanzania to the entire region. Another East African processor requesting to launch the seal program in her factory, said: “This is a fantastic learning experience for us. We get a first-hand perspective on the priorities from a customer point of view. The ACA seal program will enable us to continue that dialogue and get the support to get our priorities right.”
The company’s quality assurance team demonstrated a strong belief that Southern Jumbo will be the first ACA Quality and Sustainability Seal-approved facility in East Africa.
