KFC’s first requirements – quality – comes down to 1) high food safety processing standards & procedures and 2) the use of the prescribed potato variety Markies for producing chips. Luckily Markies has been available on the Kenyan market for many years. AgricoPSA started growing Markies seed potatoes in Kenya in 2015. Ever since its demand has been growing and it has become Kenya’s number 1 variety for the processing industry. Markies’ leading market position is no coincidence since it offers the right ingredients for all: for processors, farmers, consumers and for restaurants. Processors highly appreciate its excellent processing features. It enables them to meet the high quality requirements from their customers and in addition it lowers their operational cost. Farmers who grow Markies potatoes experience an income increase, while their business risk decreases. Consumers love the taste of Markies. Finally restaurants always want to serve what their customers like and what is easy for them to cook. Markies ticks all these different boxes. However more was needed than to simply use Markies potatoes. In order to meet the KFC’s international processing requirements, processors had to invest further. They had to elevate their operational performance and innovate their production lines. An example of such innovation is their investment in a state of the art chips cooling equipment. Simplifine managed to do so within six months, a very impressive achievement.

AgricoPSA’s core business has been to produce Kenyan seed potatoes and supply these to Kenyan farmers. This enables farmers to produce consumption potatoes themselves in a highly profitable manner. From the beginning, AgricoPSA has also been providing farmers access to off-takers, amongst other potato processing companies.

KFC’s decision in January to source locally proved to be a challenge for Kenyan processors. In addition to the investments mentioned earlier, they also had to increase their production volumes to meet KFC’s demand. As a result, processors’ demand for Kenyan grown Markies has been spiking. To achieve a profitable business, such processors need to produce continuously and supply the fastfood chains all year round. In order to do so, they must have a stable supply of top quality potato year-round.

Naturally with a growing market demand, the risk of gaps between market demand and supply is always present. Simplifine is no exception to this business rule: it has to secure a stable flow of Markies potatoes from farmers into their processing facility. Yet the risk of gaps between Simplifine’s demand and the supply from farmers remains. In order to avoid possible shortages in their production, AgricoPSA decided to fill such (temporary) gaps between demand and farmers’ supply of Markies. From time to time you can expect more images on our Facebook page from our team in action. By doing so, we continue to support the healthy development of the Kenyan potato market, which is beneficial for the Kenya’s society and economy.

And we also make sure Kenyan consumers will always enjoy tasty Kenyan chips at KFC’s!