Specialized investor in agricultural products AgDevCo is making an equity investment, in exchange for an important minority stake in East African agri-business platform Agris which is the division for agriculture that is part of Maris Ltd. The money will aid in the expansion of Agris its manufacturing and distribution of top-quality plants, herbs, and avocados on its farms located in Kenya which serves both the local as well as international markets.
“The Agris team has already created three remarkable agriculture companies in Kenya. We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with the Agris team in East Africa, with the goal of promoting the security of food, generate jobs in rural areas, and to develop the world’s top agro-industries” stated Chris Isaac, AgDevCo’s CIO.
Agris The three companies that operate Three of its operating businesses – Evergreen Fresh, Evergreen Herbs and Evergreen Avocados – have grown dramatically from the time Agris was established in the year 2020. Evergreen Herbs was started by the rehabilitation of two farms close to Nairobi and has since become one of the top suppliers of fresh cut herbs within East Africa, with year-round production, and over 22,000 workers.
Evergreen Fresh distributes fruit and vegetables from Agris farm and its outgrower networks to major retailers across Kenya. The company promotes transparency in purchasing relations with farmers, and provides customers quality and reliability through an exclusive cold chain distribution.
Evergreen Avocados is a joint venture between Granot, an internationally renowned avocado distributor and producer with the aim of growing more than 400ha of avocados to export on the Ndabibi farm located in Naivasha. On March 20, 2023, AgDevCo has made a USD 8 million investment in Evergreen Avocados through a mezzanine loan that is flexible constructed to fund fresh avocado orchards. These can take as long as four years to develop. Ndabibi is also home to a research and development centre in order to help grow the entire agriculture of avocados in Kenya.
“This money will enable us to adopt new agri-business strategies in order to continuously and sustainably create high-quality produce such as vegetables and fruits for local markets and customers overseas and keep expanding with our partners” stated Ran Kadosh. He is Agris Chief Executive Officer. “It’s what we’re looking for throughout East African agriculture – to help the region integrate with global food systems to ensure that African producers can play a bigger contribution to world food security.”
More information about the company: agdevco.com