In what the company says is a quest “to be the most admired beverage and snacks business in Africa”,
Harris International Limited, makers of Riham products this week unveiled its multi-product modern plant in Ttula, Kawempe – Mpererwe, on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda’s Capital City.
The plant was officially opened by the President of Uganda HE: Yoweri Kaguta Museveni represented by the Vice President Her Excellency Jessica Alupo.
The plant, which occupies up to 30 acres of land will also, moving forward, be the new home “to our manufacturing plant and distribution warehouses as well as offices where we produce a range of high-quality food and beverage products using the latest technology and industry best practices, ensuring that our products meet the highest standards of quality, safety, and sustainability”, the company said in a statement.
The plant produces between 250 million and 253 million litres of beverage per year, alongside a range of biscuit and confectionery brands.
Harris International Limited produces a variety of food and beverages such as Oner Fruit Juice, Rock- boom, the Skyview family of sodas, Krystal Natural Mineral Water, biscuits and confectioneries.
“Throughout the last 18 years of our growth as a company, Hariss International has grown along with our dedicated staff members, the suppliers and the traders whom we work with, our loyal consumers who have made us what we are, and of course the economy of the nation of Uganda. I am proud to report that Hariss International contributed UGX150 billion in tax revenue last year,” Yasser K. Ahmed, the company’s Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Hariss International noted at the launch.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, in his remarks, commended Harris International for “utilizing the private sector – friendly atmosphere in Uganda to create jobs and incomes for the people of Uganda.”
Simon Harvey, the Managing Director, Hariss International Limited said that with the new plant and other investments being made into the country, the company aimed to “be the most admired beverage and snacks business in Africa”.
“We pledge to make this facility the best-run beverage and snack operation in Africa by any measure. We are a proudly Ugandan business that believes in the vision of Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) and will continue to support Ugandan suppliers wherever possible. We will become a Ugandan-based East African player taking the best of Uganda, to the rest of Africa and possibly the world. All this will be achieved through innovating, and focusing on quality first, quality always and people,” added Mr. Harvey.
Mr. Ahmed reiterated that using its modernized equipment, Hariss International was committed to adding value to agricultural produce that is grown locally, thus opening access to international markets for Ugandan farmers and other Ugandans involved in the production and trade processes through the export of finished goods to the East African Community and neighbouring countries.
“Because we believe in supporting local farmers, we were the first beverage company to start buying industrial white sugar from the local market, although we still have challenges of adequate supply, a local monopoly and fluctuations in the global price,” Ahmed said.