KAMPALA, Uganda — The government’s banana industrialization initiative is set to open a network of cafes and bakeries at fuel stations, schools and shopping centers as part of a new national franchise rollout.
The Presidential Initiative on Banana Industrial Development will launch the venture early this year under its flagship brand, Tooke. Andrew Matovu, the acting director of business enterprise and development at PIBID, said the first outlets will open in Kampala, Jinja and Bushenyi.
The expansion marks a shift from research to large-scale commercialization for the project, which was established by President Yoweri Museveni in 2005 to add value to the country’s green banana crop.
“The franchise model gives us an extra line in market access, but most importantly advertisement,” Matovu said. “With a franchise where you have a raw material that is domestically established, you have big leverage in that very market.”
Matovu announced the plans during the “Create and Cook with Tooke” competition in Kakiri, where chefs used the brand’s banana flour to prepare various meals. The flour is already used in the production of bread, cakes, biscuits and baby food, meeting both local and international quality standards.
The Rev. Prof. Florence Muranga, the lead scientist behind the project, said the initiative intends to use these new retail points to increase consumption of banana-based confectionery.
By using a franchise model, the government aims to reach new communities through local entrepreneurs. Officials say the strategy reduces the uncertainty of starting new businesses while allowing the brand to expand its footprint without the need for direct government management at every location.
Project leaders at PIBID and the Banana Industrial Research and Development Centre maintain that the commercialization of banana flour has already improved food security and created employment for farmers by diversifying how the crop is consumed.
