Packaging moringa powder for a customer order at our Masindi office

It has been a while since we updated the world on how this small company is growing. Before the year is out, I thought it was time we gave you a glimpse into where we’ve been and what is in store for 2012. It has been a very challenging but rewarding year of work. We have had to endure rolling black outs in the country that have made production difficult. We are trying as much as we can to operate cleanly with respect to the environment and your bottom line. We try to limit the use of generators to power our production facilities to a minimum. Sometimes, this can’t always be avoided though. If you experience a delay in your order, more than likely, it is because we are having to juggle this very difficult decision between running an environmentally clean company, and our growth.

Because of the effects of climate change, we’ve had to deal with unusually long rainy seasons that have made harvests difficult. Seeds can’t be harvested until they are dry. The cost of fuel in the country has also meant that our shipping costs have been a little high in the second part of the year because carriers have kicked their freight charges.

Despite all of that, we have grown and increase sales this year over last. We have managed to add two more people to our team for a total of 5 employees. Just this past month we dusted off an idle production facility in Kampala so that we could increase our production capacity. With two processing locations, we are better situated to produce large orders quickly once we are firmly into the dry seasons and able to access raw materials from our farmers.

Measuring one acre and planting moringa in the rich organic soils of Masindi's countryside

Speaking of raw materials, we just started breaking ground on 25 acres that will be our primary supply for our moringa oil, and moringa seed cake products. 2 of those acres have been planted and will be our primary supply for moringa powder. This capacity will come online in about 6-8 weeks.

New growth for a new future: A moringa tree begins its journey to fruiting profits

Another 20 acres, which we expect to finish planting in a few months, will be specifically dedicated to producing our seed supply. We will start accessing this capacity in late 2012.

The future is looking bright and we would like to thank the customers that have engaged us this year. Moringa holds a lot of promise in our community as a job creation engine and we look forward to expanding responsibly and employing more people. So please, continue to send us your orders. We are committed to providing you a quality product. Because without a quality product, then you as a customer will have no reason to come back to us. And without customers, we can’t grow to meet your needs.

From all of us in Masindi, Uganda, thank you for a great year and we look forward to an even greater 2012.

Soap formulated in Ghana using UMPGL's high quality moringa oil

We are very excited by this picture not simply because it our customer, but because of what it portends. The value addition message is what we strive to adhere to. Even though we didn’t manufacture the soap ourselves, we are extremely proud that our client produced the soap in Ghana before export. This means jobs were created both here in Uganda as well as in Ghana. Along the whole value chain, someone always benefits. We strive to keep the entire production chain as close to the continent as possible. So if our clients are in Kenya, South Africa or Ghana, we feel good that we are taking part in regional trade on the continent, which is something that is sorely needed.

Every sale we make on the continent proves to us that there is a market for our products on here, and that we mustn’t be discouraged that we are not getting EU or American sales, there’s plenty of customers right here on the continent. We just have to continue provide value, excellent prices and quality products. The rest will take care of itself. Of course it doesn’t matter where our customers are coming from, but it is especially heart-warming to complete a sale that we know will be instrumental to someone’s job on the continent. And that to us is what it is all about; creating as many jobs as possible during the development cycle of that product. In this case, our farmers are paid well. Our UMPGL staff is paid to process the raw materials and manage the customers. Our shippers are paid to make sure our product arrives at its destination. Our customer’s employees are paid to further process our value-added raw materials into finished products for shipping.

We need more of these connected value-addition chains on the continent. Certainly we are just a blip of activity, but imagine if we had quarter-million value chains in various industries on the continent. We all must do our part to strengthen regional partnerships. It is imperative. An independent Africa is an Africa that trades with itself.

Dear valued customer,

First, thank you for your interest in our moringa-based products. 2010 has been a great kick off year for us. As the year progresses, we’ve seen a lot of demand in our moringa-based products. This has brought not only a lot of excitement here but also a very-deserved income to our hard-working farmers. We continue to bring more farmers online so that we are able to maximize available capacity to meet demand.

We have sold out of our current raw materials for oil production. Fortunately, the next seed collection season begins in late October as the dry season kicks in earnestly. This will last all the way through early February.

As UMPG continues to grow, we are making sure to become a more efficient, productive company. As such, we’ll be putting a lot more effort in the following areas:

• Adding more addressable capacity so we have enough stock to supply our customers during non-harvest, or rain season
• Training farmers on more economical means of tending to their plantations to maximize their profits. Happy farmers equal to quality products
• Investing in efficient value-added processing equipment. The more efficient we get the cheaper we can make our products. That’s a benefit to your bottom line
• Increasing our order fulfillment process. Operating in Africa has its challenges but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continually work towards breaking staid business practices. At UMPG, we strive to put our customers needs ahead of everything else. After all, a happy customer is the best investment any company could make in terms of marketing. To that end, expedient processing of customer orders is a practice we intend on continually refining and improving
• Communicating better with our supporters and customers. We are going to be updating this blog with a lot more regularity to communicate information about our farmers, the company and some conversations that you our valued customers wish to share. Don’t be shy, stay in touch and give us feedback

Thank you so much for your patience as we ramp up for our next season. If you know the capacity that you will be needing, please let us know ahead of time. Our product capacity is available to first come, first served. So strike early if you are able. Feel free to contact us and we’ll keep you posted on when shipping will resume.

Bonus: Love the images of our golden-colored oil above? Good news, they are free to you. Hit this link to download any you like, make sure to credit the image to “© TMS Ruge for UMPG.“

We recently sent some sample oil to Dallas, TX. TMS Ruge took some shots of the oil to show off the brilliant golden color the oil produces. We are continuing to refine our value addition process here in Masindi, Uganda. Our current sales are increasing steadily for both our moringa products; oil and seeds. We have mainly put the emphasis on selling value-added products. Moringa oil is the first step in that direction. We have been fortunate enough to have partner with a former sun flower seed press not too far from Masindi town.

This partnership provides us with a convenient way to add value to our farmers raw materials right at the source. We will continue to utilize this partnership until such a time that we will need to address our production capacity, increase efficiency and quality control. In the interim, we are happy to be adding revenue into our community and keep a lot of people employed.

ALL STOCK SOLD OUT
Because of recent orders both for seeds and oil, we are happy to announce that we have sold out of our first 10 tons of seeds we purchased from the farmers. We have just started another round of purchasing this week in the Northern districts of Nebi and parts of Masindi. We hope to increase our purchasing rate as we make more sales in the coming months. Our target is to maintain a monthly purchase rate of a minimum of 10 metric tons per month. This will be good for our farmers because the more we buy the more motivated they will be to produce. sporadic buying demotivates farmers to produce a quality product.

We are looking forward to continually engaging our 1000 farmers and hopefully increase the number of farmers we do business with, to about 2500 within the next few years. If you are interested in a regular supply of high quality cold-pressed moringa oil, moringa seed cake, or moringa powder please get in touch with us. We are more than happy to be your supplier of choice.

PROMOTIONAL & MARKETING MATERIALS COMING SOON
The pictures above are going to be part of a UMPG marketing document complete with as much information about moringa that we can get our hands on. As soon as we have that done, we will release it soon.

EXPANDING PRODUCT OFFERINGS
In thinking about sustainability, we have been looking at ways to expand our product offerings here at UMPG. Later this year, we will begin our first tests into planting chili peppers. Stay tuned for the results.

Step 1: Collection

UMPG-registered farmers deliver moringa seeds on consignment to processing facilities.

UMPG weighs and records each farmer’s contribution.*

Step 2: Processing

UMPG’s collection and processing facility processes the seeds into oil using oil presses funded and provided by Africeuticals.

UMPG also separates and  stores the oil production byproduct – the seedcakes – for sale to the livestock industries

Step 3: Wholesale

Moringa oil and seedcakes are sold at whole sale prices to the public

UMPG pays back farmers based on predetermined price per Kg.*

Step 4: Distribution

Moringa sold to local market in small increments in order to make the oil accessible to a broad base of customers.

In late January, we had the distinct pleasure of hosting Repello SA CEO, Basil Wood. He flew in to Masindi to meet the board of directors and start discussions on the potential of forming a working partnership.

Repello SA specializes in all-natural, non-toxic insect repellants. Repello saw an opportunity to partner with UMPG as a supplier of some the ingredients used in their product development. Of particular interest to Mr. Wood was UMPG’s moringa oil and powder. Additionally, Basil espoused to the board about the medicinal benefits of the neem plant, central to many of Repello’s all-natural product formulations.

Mr. Wood toured two small-holder moringa farms that supply product to UMPG, where the above video was filmed. Afterwards, Mr. Wood made a presentation in which he demonstrated the efficacy of Repello’s barrier spray, capable of keeping a household mosquito-free for up to 30 days. Mr. Wood’s demonstration was witnessed by members of UMPG board of directors, various Masindi city council dignitaries, and members of the press.

UMPG is in the planning stages of piloting the barrier spray in Masindi later this year once various certifications for legal use have been granted. The barrier spray, which will be branded under the Mozzix brand will be available exclusively through UMPG later this year. The product will be mainly targeted at malaria prevention through regular domestic spraying. More information on this product is forth-coming in the coming months.

We visited one of our moringa farmers in Masindi district to see how his plantation was doing. Christopher was kind enough to tell a little of how farmers in the district first were introduced to moringa almost 10 years ago, and then abandoned with no where to sell their cash crop.

Although prices have fallen from where they were 10 years ago, Christopher looks to expand his plantation in hopes of getting “something” for his patience and persistence. He is one of over a 1000 farmers across three districts in Uganda’s Northwest region. It is the hope of UMPG, that farmers like Mr. Mugisha will benefit from their hard work in the months to come as we ramp up collections of moringa seeds.

In August, 2009, one of UMPGL’s biggest and earliest supporters, Marsha Wulff, managing director of Africeuticals—a US-based high growth business that strengthens Africa’s private health sector with certified human and veterinary products and services. These are developed, sourced, manufactured, branded, and/or distributed in Africa—took a step forward by being one of the first independent investors to back UMPG operations.

During her inaugural visit with the UMPG board of directors in Masindi, Uganda, Miss Wulff announced that she would purchase a motorcycle, or “boda boda,” to help the board mobilize things faster, more efficiently and eliminate the expensive reliance on public transportation for company work.

During her meeting with the board, Miss Wulff also announced an initial injection of cash to the organization that would kickstart moringa collection activities. UMPG has so far bought almost 10 metric tons of moringa seeds from directly from farmers in the Masindi, Pacwatch, and Nebi districts in Northern Uganda. UMPG hopes to scale the collection activities to at least 25 metric tons per month over the next 18 months.

“The more farmers we have participating in the program, the more product we collect. The more we collect, the easier it is for us to meet delivery capacity that UMPG’s customers demand,” said TMS Ruge, senior project manager at Project Diaspora, “Miss Wulff’s investment means we can quickly scale our operations over the next few months and into next year.”

UMPG buys directly from the farmers and does not use any middle-men to perform it’s collection duties. This maximizes the income paid to each participating farmer.

Africeuticals will also take an active role—in partnership with Project Diaspora—in business development, brand building, large-scale customer acquisition and retention, and, product development.

UMPG is a project managed under Project Diaspora.