Miit Pandoliker
Interview with Miit Pandoliker
CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, LUANO FOOD COMPANY
Lives in: Lusaka, Zambia
Zambia-based Luano Meals Firm, which specialises in honey and is now diversifying into avocado processing, lately acquired investment from venture capital firm wCap. We spoke with Miit Pandoliker, co-founder and CEO, about his entry into the honey business, the corporate’s progress alternatives, and the challenges of working within the agribusiness sector. Beneath are barely edited excerpts.
1. What have been you doing earlier than beginning Luano?
Earlier than beginning Luano, I owned a logistics firm, which remains to be in operation. I found the honey enterprise whereas transporting fertiliser to distant rural areas in Zambia and noticed a possibility. I grew up between Zambia and the US, the place honey is extra extremely valued.
2. Give us an summary of Luano and your product vary.
We lately modified from Luano Honey to Luano Meals Firm as now we have began doing extra than simply honey. Our product choices embody infused honeys, honey barbecue sauce, chili sauce, chocolate honey unfold, and varied spices. A singular promoting level of our model is that we don’t personal a single farm or beehive and supply from Zambian small-scale farmers throughout the nation. We additionally promote regenerative agroforestry fashions for our farmers to observe.
3. Inform us in regards to the early days of the corporate and the way you bought to the place you’re.
Within the early days, Covid actually affected us as a result of we had simply purchased the corporate firstly of 2019. After I acquired it, the manufacturing facility was shut down and saved in a container. We moved it to Lusaka, the capital metropolis, and restarted the enterprise. Once we first launched, we had solely two product strains in retail; now now we have 12. As an export-based firm, Covid prevented us from travelling and making offers. I solely began gaining export income two years in the past once I first exported to the US.
4. Take us via the journey of building the processing plant.
Establishing our processing plant in Zambia was comparatively easy. In relation to honey, the much less you do with it, the higher – the extra uncooked, the higher. At our plant, we merely clear the honey, take away extra moisture, and bundle it for distribution. Our first product was uncooked honey in a 1-litre plastic jar, and it stays one in every of our fastest-moving strains.
5. What alternatives do you see in Zambia for avocado rising and processing, and the way is Luano tapping into this potential?
The potential for avocado rising and processing in Zambia could be very excessive. There are current plantations and we plan to assist these farmers by turning into their market. It suits effectively with our agroforestry mannequin, as avocados are a superb tree crop that’s drought-resistant. Our plan is to advertise avocado cultivation alongside beehives and intercrop with different crops that assist biodiversity, similar to shade-grown espresso. We additionally intend to assist these farmers faucet into carbon credit for his or her tree crops like avocado.
Luano Meals Firm’s honey processing facility
6. How did you safe your first clients?
Our first main retail companion was Shoprite Zambia, and the earlier proprietor of Luano launched us to the important thing purchaser for re-listing. I additionally personally visited the main supermarkets round Lusaka to introduce our merchandise.
7. The place are your merchandise offered?
Our merchandise can be found in any respect main retailers, wholesalers, and on e-commerce platforms throughout Zambia. We lately began promoting on Takealot.com in South Africa and plan to develop to retail and Amazon. Within the US, we promote in bulk via our warehouse in Baltimore to numerous ingredient patrons and purpose to enter the retail market by the tip of the yr. We even have fast enlargement plans for the UK and the Center East within the first quarter of subsequent yr.
8. How do you make sure you stay aggressive?
We attempt to sustain with the most recent developments in packaging and bio-sustainability. We additionally be certain that the tip consumer will get one of the best worth whereas guaranteeing honest compensation for our farmers. Moreover, we deal with innovating our product choices and creating new merchandise.
9. What challenges do you face in working the enterprise?
Lack of capital for enlargement is a serious problem in Zambia, making progress sluggish and dear. We’re additionally going through an influence disaster on account of extreme drought this yr, which has put manufacturing on maintain. Moreover, being a landlocked nation, we incur greater prices for our exports to succeed in their locations.
10. Describe a few of the main developments you’re seeing out there.
Worth addition with honey is unquestionably the most important development, with its use as an ingredient in wellness FMCG merchandise on the rise. Globally, shoppers are more and more in search of “feel-good” elements of their meals merchandise.
11. Luano lately acquired funding from wCap. How do you propose to make use of the funds?
The funding shall be used to amass our avocado oil processing facility.