Perez Ochieng
Perez is an award-winning business leader and scientist, global Women Inventor and Innovator and visionary and innovative business leader in the international food industry, who has initiated and managed groundbreaking projects, such as the IFE Innovation and the award winning SACOMA sweet potato initiative. She has been involved in collaborative scenario planning as well as social research on consumer-driven innovation, food retail models along with other disruptive manufacturing innovations in global food production with a focus on immune building, gut health, women’s health, men’s health, baby health, healthy aging and longevity and quality of life.
Perez has been involved in several disruptive manufacturing innovations in global food production. As an indigenous scientist who combines African traditional knowledge with academic research, she has researched healthy aging and personalised nutrition for the silver community in partnership with University of Kent, and Denmark’s Aarhus University; research into pre-biotic with Queensland University, Australia and research on viscosity for gluten free food for people aged 50+.
While her work over the last 25 years has been on promoting the consumption of natural foods and sustainable food production using novel ingredients through food quality, safety, security, authenticity, traceability as well as safe movement and trade of foods across borders she is also an promoter of the possible effects of future foods like plant-based proteins, insect as food and feed, lab-meat and herbs on health and wellbeing as well single origin coffees.
Perez has been involved in Knowledge Transfer partnership and a number of development projects for food Global Food Manufacturers, African governments, embassies and international organizations on trade (Imports/Exports), small enterprise development, agro business, value chain analysis, quality control systems and other initiatives aimed at improving the business climate in the voluntary, private sectors and public sectors.
She is passionate about the innovation of future foods like plant-based proteins, insects and herbs for health and wellbeing.
She is the founder of SACOMA Global Foods Innovation, an award-winning importer, exporter, manufacturer, and distributor with its own retail chain for organic & natural food & drinks in the United Kingdom together with a training college and retail Launchpad for food businesses that want to get into the UK retail market. Goods are imported from countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, India, Australia, Spain, Italy, Bangladesh, Latin America and many more.
DAY 1 - 08 SEPT 2023 Afternoon | Agribusiness | Coffee Session
Session 4 | MARKET DEVELOPMENT, PARTNERSHIPS,OPPORTUNITIES IN AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, AGRO-FOOD EXPORTS AND THE POTENTIAL OF COFFEEVALUE ADDITION
Value addition in agriculture presents an opportunity to integrate the Ugandan agriculturalsector with the international food processing industry. A well-developed food processing sectorwith a higher level of processing will aid in the reduction of waste, enhance value addition,encourage crop diversification, and provide producers with a higher return.
- Where are the opportunities in agri-finance, agri-tech, mechanization, and agri-value chain.
- How can Ugandan exporters access the highly regulated UK market.
- Where are the present investment gaps to boast; commerce expansion anddiversification; sustainable/efficient cooperatives; Industrialization that isecologically sustainable and technological advancement
- Where are the opportunities in the agro-ecosystem as a continuum to extendfrom the farm to value-added processing to grocery store shelves forinternational markets.
- It is therefore key to resolve the infrastructure deficits supporting the agro-foodprocessing industry, and to improve post-harvest and marketing infrastructure
- What are the legal, regulatory, policies and other institutional frameworks tosupport the agricultural sector?
DAY 1 - 08 SEPT 2023 Afternoon | Agribusiness | Coffee Session
Coffee focused discussions:
- Should Uganda establish a market intermediary between local andinternational coffee players, such as through large-scale marketingagreements with roasters with direct customer access, such asNestle, Mondelez, Tchibo, or Starbucks, to carry Uganda's reputation incoffee sales globally?
- Will Investments in value-chain upgrades and marketing investmentsincrease and affect the premiums earned by Arabica, whereas similarinvestments for Robusta have a more limited effect? The higher thequality of Arabica produced and successfully marketed, the greaterthe margin available throughout the value chain and the easier it is forfarmers to increase their incomes.
- Less and less awareness of Uganda's Arabica quality has impacted itsprice position over time, resulting in lower revenue for the sector,lower foreign currency earnings, and lower farmer income. How canUganda's coffee industry improve its market positioning and pricing;and enhance quality management across the value chain?
- Uganda should emulate Kenya and Colombia and focus on market-based outreach and direct contracts, transforming the Ugandancoffee industry from one that pushes its coffee into the world marketand sets the prices, to one that is attracted to the world market byconsumers and traders it affect prices?
- To become an essential player in the Arabica market, should Ugandafocus its coffee development primarily on Arabica, as largeinternational consuming markets like China move towards Arabica?
- Despite being relatively unknown and underrated, Uganda's premiumcoffees meet the needs of roasters and trading companies seekingnew supplies from so-called frontier countries in Africa to meet thedemand for additional volumes and unique and original marketingstories.
- How can Uganda grow its share among Western importers, roasters,and dealers, secure better selling prices and brand names andimprove their market perception of their coffee?
- How can farmers and exporters sustain globally accepted standardsand environmental certification, and how will the new EU policy ondeforestation affect Ugandan coffee farmers in the near future?