At the end of September 2010 africaJUICE Tibila Share Company exported its first two containers with dried paprika to Spain, as part of its added-value vegetable operations.

With the finalization of the new processing plant and the technological line fully installed by our partner, Tropical Food Machinery, the production of high quality fruit juice for the European ingredient market can start. Werner Griessel, General Manager of africaJUICE Tibila Share Company: "We're very happy with this achievement and I would like to congratulate all our employees with this great team effort. The commissioning of the processing plant is a major milestone for africaJUICE and for Ethiopia as a country, and will be officially inaugurated on the 13th November 2010."

Following the planting of the first hectares of passion fruit seedlings in May 2010, the africaJUICE Outgrower Incubator Project was able to finalize all the necessary registration steps towards official registration of the first outgrower cooperative. With this step the farmers are officially registered and enables them to work towards achieving the necessary targets in the Fair Trade accreditation process.

David O'Halloran, one of the directors of africaJUICE B.V., was invited to join a panel at one of the biggest annual events focusing on African private equity activity. The topic of discussion for the panel was "The entrepreneur's viewpoint: identifying opportunities for African businesses" with africaJUICE invited to provide a different perspective to that of the typical fund or investor. africaJUICE were delighted to have the opportunity to share the success of our model of sustainable development with such an influential group of investors. David described experiences and emphasised that our good relationship with our investors has been important in ensuring that the project has been able to realise significant benefits for the community, the environment and the investors. More info

After intensive preparations in infrastructure and organisation, the first outgrower farmers have started planting passion fruit. To plant the first 13 hectares is a major milestone in the development of a large outgrower organisation that will empower the community. Outgrower project manager Melkamu Negassa is very positive regarding the cooperation between the smallholder farmers and africaJUICE TSC. "These farmers will be a demonstration to others and will encourage many more farmers to consider growing fruit for africaJUICE. Already we have had enquiries for more than 100 hectares from farmers who want to become outgrowers"

The processing plant equipment for africaJUICE’s Ethiopian operation, which was being manufactured over the last eight months by Tropical Food Machinery SRL of Italy (TFM) has arrived in Ethiopia and will be erected on site and commissioned in time for first juice production mid-year. TFM’s engineers will soon return to site to start to erect the machinery on site parallel with the finalization of the remaining scope of construction by the africaJUICE team and its contractors.

The World Bank's MIGA arm issued a guarantee to Africa Juice covering its equity investment in Ethiopia and a similar guarantee to the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) covering its non-shareholder loan for the project. This is the first such transaction for MIGA in Ethiopia as their website reports: “MIGA’s support for this investment is consistent with the first pillar of the World Bank Group’s Country Assistance Strategy for Ethiopia for 2008-2011 which focuses on fostering economic growth in order to sustain the emerging economic “take-off”. MIGA’s participation in the project is aligned with key agency priorities, which include supporting investments in sub-Saharan Africa and IDA-eligible (the world’s poorest) countries. The project was underwritten through MIGA’s Small Investment Program and is the first investment in Ethiopia to receive a MIGA guarantee.”

Since early February the designated area for the new africaJUICE Ethiopian processing facility at the Menbere Hiwot farm in the Upper Awash valley has been a hive of activity with construction progressing at full speed. After finalizing all project preparations and planning activities, processing plant manager, Patrick Bennett-Horak, was delighted to be moving on from the engineering and drafting phase and excited to see the first construction activities underway. “I’m confident that we can achieve our first production within a few short months from today” he enthused, while showing the Board members around the site during March. “Soon we will all be tasting fresh juice from Ethiopia’s first ever export-oriented fruit processing plant”.

Early in February, Marcela Ruibal, one of africaJUICE’s development team, travelled to Parma in Italy, to the well known machinery producer, Tropical Food Machinery, in order to inspect the fully functional first multi-fruit processing line for aJ TSC, which is ready to be shipped to Ethiopia. The factory is a showcase for true Italian craftsmanship and the partnership with TFM has been very positive from the start of tender up to first inspection at this day. With TFM as partner the prospects for an efficient start of the processing factory later this year are very positive.

David O’Halloran, one of the directors of africaJUICE B.V., was invited to join the panel and speak about africaJUICE at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture this year. Topic of discussion for the panel was “Modernisation of the African Farming and Food Economy - Adaptation to the Climate Change” something of particular interest and relevance for africaJUICE as it participates in agri-business across the continent. David brought forward the opinion that underlies the africaJUICE investment policy, that sustainable production and profitability can, ultimately, go hand-in-hand, while simultaneously increasing the social development level of rural communities in Africa. For a video impression of the conference please follow the next link: Summary version or Full version

The Outgrower Incubator Project team has been working hard to prepare all the necessary arrangements for the first smallholder farmers to start with passion fruit production. Together with our Ethiopian partner organisations we are proud to announce that the first group of outgrowers have committed today to work with aJ TSC. Our overall goal is to have more than 1000 hectares of outgrower farmers supplying fruit to aJ TSC under Fair Trade terms, thereby contributing significantly to the socio-economic development of the local community.

Our seeds, originally imported from Brazil, had an excellent growth phase from seed to seedling at Florensis PLC, a Dutch propagation specialist in Ethiopia. The seedlings were ready by mid September 2009 to be planted on the Tibila Farm by the aJ TSC fruit plantation team. With the trellis system nearly completed the infrastructure for optimal passion fruit production is now in place and first harvest is expected in the second quarter of 2010.

aJ TSC’s contractor, Horticamp PLC, has successfully installed and commissioned the first 30ha of drip irrigation at the Tibila Farm, to enable the first passion fruit seedlings to be planted by the aJ TSC team. The high quality equipment will enable precision agricultural management to be implemented which will result in much higher yields than possible in open field horticulture. Also important for aJ TSC is that drip irrigation will increase the efficiency of water usage at the Tibila Farm with up to 70% less water used per hectare compared to the traditional furrow irrigation, protecting this natural resource and contributing to our environmental management objectives.

Senior agronomy advisor Gerard Pothuis is excited about the prospects of this first citrus harvest. After a long period of nutrient deficiency due to a lack of fertiliser purchasing opportunities for the former management of the Tibila Farm, his expertise has quickly been able to yield improved fruit development in the citrus orchard. The market in Addis Ababa is responding above expectations in terms of prices offered for the harvest.

aJ TSC’s Vegetable Plantation Manager Henk Kuipers is proud to announce the first vegetable crop harvest under aJ TSC’s management at the Tibila Farm. The tomatoes gave a very satisfactory yield and are of premium taste and quality, ready to be sold at the market in Addis Ababa. aJ TSC will continue to produce fruit and vegetables from Tibila Farm whilst the transformation process to full tropical fruit plantation is ongoing which will take approximately four years.

To facilitate the activities of aJ TSC, an office in the city of Adama (also known as Nazret) has been opened. The finance & procurement department and the General Manager will have offices here to link more closely with the Oromia regional government and to Addis Ababa where the federal government departments are based. Adama is the capital of Oromia region of Ethiopia and is located approximately 30km from the Tibila Farm and 100km from Addis Ababa.

After finalising the handover process with the Ethiopian government, aJ TSC finally took operational control of the Tibila Farm on the 9th of April 2009. aJ TSC’s General Manager Werner Griessel commented that he was happy to have the “keys to the farm” and to be able start to develop the fruit plantation with his experienced international and Ethiopian team. Together with a motivated group of farm workers the africaJUICE team is ready for the challenge of transforming the farm to become the first large scale Fair Trade tropical juice plantation in sub-Saharan Africa.

africaJUICE and the Ethiopian government have reached agreement on the handover date of the Tibila Farm. From 9th April, aJ TSC will take operational control of the farm and start implementing the project to transform the farm into a modern tropical fruit plantation.

On 13th February, the Board of Directors of aJTSC confirmed the appointment of Mr. Werner Griessel as General Manager. Making the announcement, David O’Halloran, Chair of the Board said "We are exceptionally happy to secure someone of Werner’s quality. He has significant experience in financial and agro-industry management and has worked for an extended period in central and east Africa. Werner is evidently committed to the values and vision of africaJUICE and has very useful experience with outgrower programmes and Fair Trade."

The agri-business investment fund, Agri-Vie, and the sustainable development investment company, BM CAP ONE Ltd completed their investments in africaJUICE BV after having confirmed their plans to invest earlier this quarter. This investment will allow africaJUICE BV to execute its first project in Ethiopia, the Upper Awash project, and in order to deliver this, africaJUICE BV has completed documentation to register and incorporate a new joint venture with the Ethiopian government – the africaJUICE Tibila Share Company. Harry van Neer, CEO of africaJUICE BV, commented: "completing the financing for our first project in Ethiopia is a major milestone for africaJUICE BV allowing us to shift our focus towards the execution and successful delivery of this project".

On Tuesday 25th November, africaJUICE signed a Joint Investment Agreement (JIA) in Addis Ababa with the Privatization & Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA) of the Ethiopian government. The signing of the JIA paves the way for the creation of the africaJUICE Tibila Share Company, the joint venture between africaJUICE BV and the Ethiopian government, and for the take over of the entire Tibila Farm by africaJUICE. Harry van Neer, CEO of africaJUICE BV, said "We are delighted to achieve this major milestone and we look forward to working with the Ethiopian government to deliver the Upper Awash Project – a project which we believe will deliver significant benefits for Ethiopia and for the community local to the Tibila Farm".

The agri-business investment fund, Agri-Vie, confirmed in October that it planned to invest in africaJUICE BV after negotiations and due diligence since earlier this year. Agri-Vie is a private equity investment fund focused on agribusiness in Sub-Saharan Africa. Final documentation is still being concluded but it is planned that Agri-Vie will take a substantial position in africaJUICE, a business it sees as demonstrating strong agro-processing fundamentals with high growth potential coupled with excellent sustainable developmental principles. You can learn more about Agri-Vie at www.agrivie.com

The recently formed sustainable development investment company, BM CAP ONE, announced today that it planned to invest in africaJUICE BV. The level of investment is still under negotiation but BM CAP ONE has indicated that it is looking to invest a substantial sum in a business it sees as demonstrating excellent sustainability fundamentals.