Delicious, honest fruit juice
The first fruit juice was produced in 1998. We opted for a healthy, natural product without any colour or taste additives or preservatives, a choice facilitated by the fact that chemical fertilisers or pesticides are hardly used in agriculture in the region. 2008 was an important turning point for Mali. The 10-year project phase had ended and Mali started focusing on the business phase. It was a switch that offered many possibilities at first glance. It wasn’t long before we encountered some limitations that were the result of choices made during the project phase. A first restriction was the location itself. Muleba district is a very remote area and one of the least developed regions in Tanzania. More than 90% of its population works in agriculture. Even though trade is the most important economic sector, there are very few supporting structures for businesses. The informal economy in particular is very important. Mali Juice is one of the few formal enterprises in the region and is therefore under strict regulations. The many legal rules and obligations are not always easy to observe as they are often based on our western regulations, designed for European circumstances. Our Mali project also had to cope with the fact that it started in a society with a weak social security system. Based on a just concern for its staff the project developed its own form of social security. It was a noble initiative but one with far reaching financial consequences for the present enterprise. The same is true about the choice to create a sustainable product. A sustainable product is often an expensive product for the local market. The combination of the above restrictions and chosen tough targets is quite a task for Mali Juice. It's a real challenge to make it as a business. |