Kissy Industry, a local processing industry situated in the East End of Freetown has commenced the processing of farm product into high quality and standard vegetable oil at an exceedingly small scale, to joined other companies in redeeming Sierra Leone’s ancient landmark as exporters of major agricultural products to the Africa continent and Europe as a whole.
The move by Kissy Industry is being regarded as a giant step in the right direction, especially so when the country has over the years relied heavily on importation of basic commodities amounting to huge sum of United States Dollars.
Chief Operating Officer, Kissy Industry Daniel Shallop, disclosed that as at now his company produces plus minus one hundred to one hundred and fifty containers monthly. Shallop said Kissy Industry depends on the availability of raw materials, adding that for a start, the company is sharing the market equally with Jolaks, which is a major competitor in the market.
Speaking on the sales of product, Shallop informed that Kissy Industry are selling between sixty-seventy (60-70) containers monthly, while the balance is exported to their main markets in Senegal and Mali.
He disclosed that each 20ft container contains 1,312 Jerry cans of vegetable oil and send 10-20 trucks loaded with vegetable oil to Mail and Senegal for their partner company that in turn sell the products and remits the money back to them.
He added, Kissy Industry produces three products that ranging from oil palm, Leo vegetable, Margarine, Soap and Protector Medicated Soap, producing 40 containers monthly but only enjoying a market share between 10-15 containers monthly.
The Chief Operating Officer remains hopeful that after they would have a grip of the local market before considering exporting the margarine.
Currently, only one or two percent of vegetable oil like olive and sunflower are imported. He said the soap importation has reduced drastically since the emergence of Kissy Industry and Jolaks, because they are also manufacturing it.
Chief Operating Officer continued that they are also exporting by-product like palm oil fatty acid distillate (PFAD) and palm stearin to neighbouring countries like Guinea, Ghana and Senegal between 25-40 containers which he said depend on the raw materials receives from Scofin Agricultural Company and Gold Tree.
“10-15 containers PFAD are used in producing the soap, so when we have leftovers, instead of keeping them in the tanks, we decide to export them” Daniel Shallop said. He described PFAD as a residual fatty acid rich stream obtained in the palm oil refining process.
