Challenges

Since inception to date Mace Foods has embarked on a journey to address the following challenges:

• Poor quality of on-farm chillies exported from African countries, resulting in non-compliance to maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides in and on food products.
• Lack of relevant standards and certifications to propel entry to premium markets
• High energy costs make processing expensive.

Solutions

In recognition of the market potential and impact on farming livelihoods, Mace Foods Limited (MFL) has been promoting the production, processing and marketing of chilies and traditional African leafy vegetables, targeting product sales in the local, regional and export markets. Mace Foods aims to bridge the demand and supply gap between rainy and dry seasons as well as provide a high quality, hygienic, nutritious option on the table and global market through its four product lines. The company has a complete processing plant that has four product lines, which are dehydrated chilies as well as its by-products; crushed or whole chilies; capsaicin extract; and certified seeds/planting material. In so doing, Mace Food seeks to shift to solar-powered processing technologies.