Obtala Resources (LON:OBT) has received the final certificate required for BRC compliance at its farm at Morogoro, Tanzania.
The "AA" grade certification was awarded for BRC Global Standard for Food Safety for dried fruits and vegetables produced at the farm.
The BRC Global Standards programme is used by over 23,000 certificated suppliers in 123 countries and its award means Obtala can now market its produce to a wide range of potential customers that stipulate compliance.
The group has already started negotiating to get its Mama Jo’s branded fruit onto airlines, something that should be boosted by BRC certification, while it has signed a memorandum with part of the Groupo Cabal group to work in partnership on a revenue split basis.
As part of the partnership, Obtala will initially supply 20 containers, 500 tonnes of cantaloupe melon. This variety of melon takes 3-4 months from planting to harvesting, yielding 20 tonnes per hectare. In addition, the two groups intend to establish a 50 hectare banana plantation at Morogoro
Obtala added that now that it has BRC certification it has decided to withdraw from its cannery joint venture in Lesotho to concentrate more fully on developing Morogoro.
Simon Rollason, Obtala’s managing director, said: "The BRC certification is the result of much hard work on the ground,
“The future partnership with a division of a major international fruit trading company and the benefit of the downstream revenue share is an exciting development.
“Our intention is to increase the area under cultivation and to turn the farm into a major operation in the region with a range of product lines exporting globally."