Vegpro Group,  a Kenya based vegetable and flower exporter, is to expand its operations of horticulture packaging and exports in Ethiopia.

The company has several investments and package centers in various countries in Africa and is planning to setup a packaging center in Southern Ethiopia for the export market.

The Kenyan horticulture giant is one of the biggest companies supplying food to supermarkets in the UK and EU.

Vegpro Group currently focuses on packaging and export of fruits from Kenya and has expanded to the export of grain to Europe from Ghana.

Ethiopia has become one of the major flower exporters on the continent since investors began to actively engage in the sector in the past eight years. Although there are several vegetable and fruit farms in the country, the sector’s export has not grown according to government plans.

In the first nine months of the current budget year the country earned USD 170 million from from the sale of 1.63 billion flower stems and 103,000 tons of vegetables, fruits and herbs.

Currently, over 150 local and foreign companies are actively engaged in horticulture development in Ethiopia.

Source: Capital