Pangea Africa and Black Star Africa have jointly acquired a majority stake in Ghanaian fresh food producer Eden Tree Limited, paving the way for changes in the company’s leadership and plans to expand its operations across West Africa.
A New Era for Eden Tree
The transaction provides an exit for international impact investment firm Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), which has held shares in Eden Tree since 2015. The financial terms of the deal and the individual stakes acquired by Pangea Africa and Black Star Africa were not disclosed.
Eden Tree founder Catherine Krobo Edusei will step away from the company’s day-to-day leadership after 29 years. She will remain with the business as a director and assume the position of Founder Emeritus. Grant Webber, a representative of Black Star Africa, will take over as Chief Executive Officer, while Pangea Africa Director Tracy Boswell Scicchitano will join Eden Tree’s Board of Directors.
A New Phase for a Business Built on Tradition
Eden Tree began as a small packaging operation in a single room in 1997. It has since developed into one of Ghana’s recognised suppliers of packaged fruits, vegetables, herbs and convenience foods. The company sources produce from a network of farmers before washing, processing, packaging and distributing it to retail outlets, corporate organisations and institutional clients. It also operates a processing facility in Tema.
Mrs. Krobo Edusei said the change in ownership marked the beginning of a new phase for a business she had spent nearly three decades building. “Building Eden Tree over nearly three decades has been the privilege of my life,” she said. “From our humble beginnings, we proved that Ghanaian agribusiness can meet strict international standards of safety, quality and consistency. I am proud to pass the baton of stewardship to Pangea and Black Star Africa.”
New Owners Target Food Losses and Supply-Chain Gaps
Pangea Africa and Black Star Africa say their immediate priority is to improve Eden Tree’s operations and reduce the amount of fresh produce lost between farms and consumers. The companies plan to install solar-powered cooling facilities close to farming communities, expand the use of climate-smart drip irrigation and organise more farmers into outgrower cooperatives. They believe the interventions will allow farmers to preserve fruits and vegetables for longer, stabilise supply and reduce the cost of moving fresh produce to consumers.
John Scicchitano, a Strategic Advisor at Pangea Africa, said weaknesses in storage, transportation and cold-chain infrastructure were contributing to the loss of large quantities of fresh produce after harvest. He said these losses reduce farmers’ incomes, limit the availability of nutritious food and increase prices for consumers. “In West Africa, up to 50 per cent of fresh fruits and vegetables spoil after harvest because of fragmented supply chains and cold-chain failures, driving up the cost of nutritious food,” he said.
Improving Ghana's Investment Environment
The transaction also ends I&P’s investment in Eden Tree after more than a decade. Francis Owusu of I&P said the investment firm supported Eden Tree to expand its processing capacity and strengthen its internal systems during its period as a shareholder. The parties describe it as an important secondary-market transaction for Ghana because it demonstrates that investors in locally owned businesses can transfer their holdings to other investors after supporting a company’s growth. They argue that the deal could help improve confidence in Ghana’s investment environment at a time when currency depreciation and wider global economic pressures have made exits from African businesses more difficult.
Source: Joy Online
