About the project "Food packaging development"

The project I will be working on in Uganda is called "Food packaging development". Through this project Design without Borders wants to contribute in promoting Ugandan finished goods production.

Fruits and vegetables are “growing like weeds" and tastes great in Uganda! Nevertheless, the country produces few finished products based on these commodities. The country is exporting fruits and vegetables as raw materials with low profit and is buying expensive imported finished products back.

Design without Borders co-operats with Reco Industries Ltd, a local manufacturer of food products, in developing new products, packaging and brand strategy. The goal is to create products that are competitive at an international level and can show the potential of Ugandan food processing.

Some facts

- Uganda is a very rich agricultural country. There is a large supply of fruits and vegetables, including pineapple, mango, papaya, passion fruit, melon, tomatoes, avocado and more.

- 66% of the workforce belongs to the agricultural sector. Nevertheless, food processing accounts for only 8% of the country's manufacturings.

- Most of the fruits and vegetables consumed locally without processing or exported as they are, with low profit.

Reco Industries website: Reco Industries Ltd

PS: as my first assignment, I am now working on improving the Reco website. I will keep you posted when we launch the improved one!

It's all about U

So, finally I have arrived in Uganda. The african adventure, - and hard work, is about to start. I have been very well received, got my own office and am getting to know my new colleagues. It is all very exciting.

In this blog I will mainly focus on the project I am doing "Food packaging development": the process, progress and results. But, I will also write about my general observations from Uganda related to product development and design, marketing and branding and the business culture. I hope you will enjoy it.

In my first two weeks I have been able to go on two long trips: one to the west and one to the north. Going by car, I have been able to see a lot of Uganda, at least how it looks like from the road side. And I have been able to do my first observations on marketing and branding.

Strong brands - strong colours
The most visible thing when moving along the Ugandan roads are the houses painted in very strong, bright colours with big logos and slogans. The "branded" houses are mostly shops and restaurants, and most probably they also sell products from the same company. And the big majority of them represent the mobile phone companies operating in Uganda. There are (at least according to what I have observed along the road) 5 or 6 companies offering mobile services. The competition is very strong (advantage for me since both domestic and international calls are quite cheap) and advertisement seems to be an important tool to reach the customers. The idea of branding houses along the roads seems to be an efficient advertising channel. A few pictures to give you the impression:

Uganda Telecom - Blue

MTN - Yellow

Orange - Orange (even stronger when the name and colour are the same)

Zain - Pink

Airtel - Red

Warid - Red/white (were there no attractive colours left?)

Colour ownership
This is how it looks like. How they do it? I believe the mobile phone companies strike a deal with the house owners: they paint it for free? That remains to find out. Anyway, it seems to be a win-win deal: the house/shop owner gets the house painted frequently and it all looks a lot nicer. The mobile phone company gets the wanted attention. And, finally, they take ownership to the colour they have chosen for their brand. It ramains to see if a "green" or "purple" mobile phone company will pop up, since those colours are still "available". A few more pictures with some observations:

It doesn't have to be a house either, it could be a container.

Maybe this one gets new paint tomorrow?

Side by side we stand. Competing!

Even in the remote areas they are present. Side by side with traditional huts/bandas. 

If you cant get one company to paint your house, you might as well do marketing all of them.

All of them, only missing Warid.

The more remote, the less the colours and branding.

The "U" logo.

It's all about U

It might seem like I am favoring Uganda Telecom, but I just think the slogan is very good and strong. Do you agree? Leave a comment.

So, that was my first impression of branding and advertising in Uganda... There will be more to come. 

Now it is all about U! Hope you would like to follow my blog :-)