Inside the Sh1.4bn firm exporting Omena to China
The Shimoni fishing village in Kwale County has in the past been a desolate place, but a gradual transformation is happening in the Kibuyuni area, bringing boundless opportunities to local fishermen.
Tucked in the Shimoni thickets is Huawen Foods EPZ, a Chinese fish production company that exclusively deals with Anchovies, a type of seafood or fish popularly known as Omena, Dagaa or Kata Shingo.
In East Africa It is cooked and eaten as an accompaniment with Ugali; but in China, it is consumed as snacks after processing.
When we visited the factory that sits on an 18-acre piece of land, we found workers cleaning surfaces while others building areas.
Zhi Yong Liu, the Executive Director of the company has been staying in Kwale since 2017, where he has been setting up the Sh1.4 billion company, but the firm had to wait for five years before their products could be directly exported to China.
The property includes a production hall, drying racks, a large warehouse, an ice machine and boats used for transporting the fish from the ocean to the landing sites.
A fish landing site and worker’s quarters have also been set up on the opposite side of the road.
“Our government in China informed us that it was okay to invest in Africa, so we came to survey various parts of Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania and settled on Kibuyuni village because we knew there was a steady supply of the type of fish we wanted,” explained Mr Liu.
He also added that setting up the company near the Fisheries Department in Shimoni would be a great deal in terms of dealing with authorities and locals who are the suppliers of fish.
Fishermen in Kwale supply at least 20 tonnes of fish in a month, depending on the season.
Just recently, Blue Economy Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya flagged off a 320 kilos consignment that was being exported to China by the company, after Kenya entered into a bilateral agreement with the country for fish and avocado exports.
The consignment was part of 70 tonnes of omena that have already been processed by the company.
Jinzai Group, the mother company of Huawen Food Kenya is based in Hunan Province in China and after the government recently allowed the export of the fish to the country, they have been adding value to the ‘Omena’ during processing by infusing different ingredients including, vegetable oil, onions, spices, sauce and chilly to make the snacks in 12-gram packages.
The final product is supplied locally in China and sold in over 30 countries worldwide according to Mr Liu, fetching profits of over Sh120 billion.
In Kenya, the value-added anchovies are sold at selected supermarkets at an average price of Sh900 per packet.
“In Kenya, it is sold at Sh45 shilling per 12g packet while in China it is sold at Sh20 per packet. China does not have a lot of ‘omena’, we buy from other countries,” said Mr Liu.
Once the fishermen arrive with the raw fish from the ocean, they are first weighed in one of the production halls at Kibuyuni and taken in one of the trays for cleaning.
The anchovies are then placed in boilers at 100 degrees in salt water and after boiling, they are transported using a trolley to the drying area under the sun where they are sun dried for between four and six hours.
The omena is then packed in 13kg polythene bags and kept in the containers.
To ship to China, it takes 24 days by water and 2 days by air.
Governor Fatuma Achani earlier lauded the company’s move to providing employment and a ready market for Kenya’s local fisherfolk.
“This is a good opportunity for our fishermen to fully explore the blue economy sector, and has also created employment opportunities for our people,” Ms Achani earlier said while visiting the company.
But even as the company eyes a great harvest of this type of fish, challenge remains with the supply of anchovies to the factory.
Mr Liu said the company’s targets to process and export 200 tonnes of fish per day fitting in 40 feet containers. This would translate to USD190,000 in exports.
“The supply is inconsistent since we are working with local fishermen, they have not been supplying us with the fish regularly. We only get at least 20 tonnes of fish in a month which is way below our target. When they bring 20 tonnes, we employ up to 200 people from the village, but this number can increase if there is more supply,” he said.
He explained that the challenges are arising due to the inability of most Kenyan fishermen to fish in the deeper waters due to a lack of modern fishing gear.
At the moment, the government has not allowed the company to have licensed boats and fish to get their own fish from the ocean.
Mr Liu called on authorities to continue convincing the locals to embrace selling fish to the company which provides them with a ready market.
He says he had interacted with Wasini, Mkwieo, Shimoni, Kibuyuni, Majoreni, Vvanga, Jimbo and Jasini Beach Management Units who supply him fish, but the amount is still limited due to Kenya fishing laws that have banned a type of net that eases catching small sized fish like anchovies.
This comes as Mr Liu remains hopeful the locals and the government would give him support to continue boosting the blue economy through fish export.
“We have talked to the government to offer us a fishing licence so that we can teach the local fishermen so they know how best to get the more fish, but this is still underway,” he said.
On their part, Kwale locals have said that they would like more people to be employed by the company to boost the local economy.
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