Event celebrates partnership to support East

2016/04/14

The event, which was organised by UK Trade & Investment Kenya and attended by over 200 guests, was held at High Commissioner Nic Hailey's residence in Nairobi.

The East African food industry is growing with both increasing demand in domestic markets and opportunities for export. Meanwhile, with more companies entering the market, there is also increased competition.

These factors have placed pressures on manufacturers to maximise production and improve the efficiencies of their operations. At the same time the move to more pre-packed and value-added food products is driving the need for accuracy and consistency in packs, both to protect margins and to meet consumer and retailer demands for enhanced quality of both product and packaging.

Further automation of packing lines can help food companies meet these requirements. For example, multihead weighers are able to deliver pinpoint weight accuracy, snacks bagmakers produce high quality packs, and checkweighers provide effective monitoring and compliance with weight regulations for export to European supermarkets.

With its appointment of Allwin Packaging International as its agent for the region and the introduction of a new multihead weigher and checkweigher, Ishida Europe will help to support East African food manufacturers’ growth through the effective use of automation in markets such as snacks, nuts, cereals, pulses, and sugar.

The company is a global leader in the development of packing line solutions, with a proven record of helping local, national and international businesses. Its success and achievements in export markets have been recognised by the attainment of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade in 2014.