Ugandan Products Launched in UK Supermarket
The Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB) in its quest to
identify markets for Ugandan products has identified TJX
supermarket as a potential buyer. TJX is a supermarket
chain in the UK with over 30 stores. As part of their
CSR, the supermarket chain buys products from community
groups or companies which directly benefit communities.
After several exchanges with UEPB’s Market and Product
Development team on email and telephone, samples of
different products were shared and orders placed.
The UEPB team together with TJX went ahead to identify
different craft producer groups and visited over 6
districts in Western Uganda. 8 producer groups employing
over 100 women can now be referred to as proud exporters
after fulfilling a maiden order worth US $ 10,000. The
products were launched in the UK supermarket chain in
February 2011. The great news is that the products have
been appreciated; UEPB is gearing up to upscale the
production capacities of the rural art and craft groups
to supply a much larger order.
The women producer groups were initially producing at
low scale and selling to traders / middlemen. They were
not aware of export market opportunities.
UEPB took them through the entire export procedure and
also advised on different technical issues. This new
built relationship with TJX Supermarket is bound to
increase Uganda’s craft exports to the UK. Craft
producers are encouraged to register with UEPB to
benefit from such and many more opportunities.
(Source:
www.ugandaexportsonline.com)