Big Boost: Teso Foods Announces Shs180 Billion Expansion Into Large-Scale Food Processing

By Swift Reporter

Teso Foods Ltd has announced plans for a major Shs180 billion investment to expand its operations into large-scale food processing and value addition, targeting the domestic, regional and international markets.

The ambitious project is being developed as a joint-venture industrial venture involving Teso Foods and international technology and investment partners. It will combine Uganda’s agricultural resources with advanced food-processing technology, modern manufacturing systems and access to export markets.

The planned production portfolio will include instant coffee made from Uganda’s Arabica and Robusta varieties, biscuits and cookies, chocolates and cocoa-based products, confectionery and sweets, dairy products, peanut butter, honey, tomato and chilli sauces, marmalades and other processed foods.

The company said the project will prioritise the use of locally sourced agricultural raw materials wherever commercially and technically feasible, creating reliable markets for Ugandan farmers involved in coffee, dairy, cocoa, groundnuts, fruits and other agricultural value chains.

Chairman of Teso Foods Ltd, Capt. Mike Mukula, welcomed the investment, saying it would support Uganda’s transition from exporting raw agricultural commodities to producing and exporting finished products.

“Uganda must progressively move from exporting agricultural raw materials to processing, branding and exporting finished products of international quality,” Mukula said.

He added that value addition would enable farmers and the country to retain a greater share of the economic value generated from agricultural production.

The project is expected to incorporate modern European processing, quality-control, food-safety, packaging and automation technologies. The planned facilities will be designed to meet Ugandan requirements as well as internationally recognised standards for regional and export markets.

According to the company, the investment will be developed progressively, with substantial manufacturing capacity expected to create employment opportunities across food technology, engineering, production, quality assurance, logistics, sales, marketing and administration.

Teso Foods said the project has the potential to become one of the largest joint-venture food value-addition investments in Uganda and the wider East African region.

The company also expects the expansion to strengthen local agricultural value chains while positioning Uganda as an emerging hub for agro-industrial manufacturing and the production of competitive African consumer brands.

“This is ultimately about transforming what we grow into world-class products made in Uganda, creating jobs, increasing exports, supporting farmers and building strong African consumer brands capable of competing internationally,” Mukula said.