Shareholders rally behind Kakuzi’s push for diversification
Investors in fruit exporter Kakuzi have thrown their weight behind the company’s diversification plan into new business lines.
Kakuzi has been on a diversification drive encompassing the production of avocado, macadamia, and blueberries for export to Europe, China, India, the Middle East, America, Japan, and the UK markets.
At the same time, the company has also been revamping its value addition segment, seeking greater market share locally.
Managing Director Chris Flowers told shareholders that “market diversification for Kakuzi is a key part of our strategy not only for export but also for the growing domestic and regional markets.”
He added that diversification will help the company “minimise shareholder risks and maximise returns.”
Mr Flowers was speaking when a section of Kakuzi shareholders made a familiarisation tour of the farm’s operations in Murang’a County on Wednesday.
With a capital outlay of Kes100 million next year, Mr Flowers said the firm’s diversification agenda will include strategies for integrating Agricultural Technology (Ag-Tech), water stewardship, and measuring and reducing carbon emissions in the firm’s operations.
The plan also encompasses reducing waste products, while also embracing an expanded livestock business line.
Read also: Kakuzi launches macadamia oil factory
Board Chairman Nicholas Ng’ang’a said the firm had grown beyond a farm enterprise and is now an integrated international agribusiness player.
“We’re particularly proud to showcase our climate-smart agriculture, which speaks to the sustainability of their investment portfolio,” Mr Ng’ang’a said.
At the same time, the Managing Director noted that the company is now “dealing with new significant problems beyond our control, such as complex global logistics. Mr Flowers attributed this to the ongoing geopolitical chaos in the Middle East that has seen the closure of the Red Sea shipping routes.
Other challenges facing the company are the adverse effects of climate change, which are “making agriculture far less predictable.”
The Kakuzi share register indicated that the number of shareholders grew to 1,395 as of 31 December 2023, up from 1,362 the previous year. The firm’s shareholder profile comprises 1,154 local individual investors with more than eight million shares and 97 local institutional Investors with more than 5.5 million shares, among others.
