Producing tomato paste in Nigeria: TheTomatoJosStory
The idea to process tomatoes into tomato paste first came to Mira Mehta when she encountered her first tomato market glut in Northern Nigeria. Nigerian farmers produced about 65% of the tomatoes grown in West Africa, but paradoxically was also the largest importer of tomato paste in the world.
Tomato Jos took advantage of this opportunity by solving a vital problem. Why import all that tomato paste when Nigeria has surplus amounts of tomatoes?
Over the last five years, we have run Nigeria's largest active tomato farm in Kaduna
We have produced 7 billion tomatoes, with yield 7x above national yield average. Today, we have begun processing tomato paste at our $5 million plant in Kaduna State and with our farm in Kangimi, in Igabi Local Government Area, Tomato Jos has already impacted on its community, creating jobs and empowering its outgrowers with modern farming techniques and a route to market.
Tomato Jos has 50 full-time employees, 20 additional local security staff members patrolling the fields and 350 partner farmers who receive support and education to increase their crop yields for supply to the company.
We are a fully integrated tomato farming and ProcessingCompany
Mission
Our mission is to create a middle class in rural Nigeria by harnessing the power of local production for local consumption.
Vision
Our vision is to be a top-three brand for packaged tomato products in Nigeria, with at least 10% market share and at least 50% of our raw material sourced from smallholder farmers.