» February 2013

February 2013 marks more than one year since the first experience of transformation and many things have changed since then. FruiTogo is a new line of products which has been created, and there is also some news concerning the concentrate TomaTogo. To reduce production costs and to improve product quality, machines have been modified, which has given very positive results so far. The time needed to achieve the end product has been decreased, and consequently, fuel, electricity and water costs have also decreased. The end product does not contain any preservatives or colorants, and is now a beautiful intense red colour, and is sweeter in flavour.

The goal to place healthy quality products on the market has been achieved!!!

There is also a negative note: the much-awaited Harmattan, which with its cool wind helps agricultural production, was late arriving this year. But despite everything the cooperative workers are not demoralised! The transformation of tomatoes and fruit continues at full speed.

» September 2012

This is a period of great excitement for the project and also of great satisfaction.

In fact there’s some big news!!!

In recent months, to ensure economies of scale, production tests of fruit juice and nectars started.

The first, very important phase was studying the market to verify the availability of raw materials, possible suppliers, the availability of packaging (a problem you really mustn’t underestimate here in Togo); then came the first transformation tests with training for the women and finally the taste tests. Now the Dindan cooperative produces mango and pineapple nectars and ginger, hibiscus and tamarind juice, plus a delicious fruit cocktail, all under the “FruiTogo” brand. In this way there’s an interaction between the brand and the local market. Now comes what is perhaps the biggest challenge: selling enough product to make production sustainable! Things have anyway got off to a good start, products are being sold and this encourages the women a lot, it gives them satisfaction and they work even harder in the cooperative.

Also, here in Togo the tomato production season is starting. The new Timanga cooperative has worked hard in recent months to build the nursery where the tomato seedlings will be cultivated. They’ve built the greenhouses, the water tanks, a warehouse and a room for the “seeder” imported from Italy which makes their work easier and more efficient.

In short, the entrepreneurial spirit of the women in the cooperatives is increasingly evident, and this encourages us all to carry on.

» May 2012

Here in the savannah region the rainy season is on the way and the tomato season is drawing to an end. This has been the first experience for the cooperatives in transforming tomatoes and has seen the introduction of TomaTogo into the market. We are satisfied, the product appeals because it has an authentic taste, and it sells!!! The women in the cooperatives have also managed to make a small profit to use for themselves and their families.

The results are good, though some aspects need to be improved. However, it’s surprising to see how the women, though busy with the hard work of transformation, are showing real business verve. From next year they won’t be simply transformers of tomatoes but also producers, and this will allow them to have top quality raw material in the quantities and at the times needed to optimise production. Each first level cooperative has rented about a hectare of land where, with the support of the project, they are constructing wells that will allow a more rational use of water.

And so little by little the TomaTogo production chain is organising itself with the aim of becoming a veritable transformation industry, an example of sustainable development.

» February 2012

What a thrill to be holding the mythical TomaTogo package!

Processing has been underway for more than a month by now, the first packages are already on the market and I must say the inhabitants of the savannah region gave TomaTogo a very warm welcome.

Work starts at seven in the morning in the villages when the best tomatoes are chosen, washed and scalded, after which they are mashed and the sauce produced is transferred into pans to be concentrated.

The women in the cooperatives have learned surprisingly quickly to use the machinery and organise shifts. I must say I was impressed by their punctuality every day!!!

At fixed times a van passes through the villages to pick up the semi-concentrate and takes it to Dapaong, were a system of Italian machinery finishes the product to international HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) standards. The women in the cooperatives are good at selling, presenting TomaTogo to the shopkeepers and initial sales have been very positive.

Thanks to the machinery with which the processing units in Dapaong are equipped, we can say that now in the savannah region there is a real food industry, the first in Togo handling tomatoes and I must say it’s a big satisfaction!

Those who have already tasted the concentrate were very enthusiastic, the local population like the taste of TomaTogo and I certainly like it too, I use it to make lots of different sauces.

» December 2011

Here in the savannah region we have been in the dry season for some time now and the golden landscape is illuminated with shining green patches: the tomato fields. The buildings for processing tomatoes are ready and the machinery imported from Italy has already been installed. The women in the cooperatives can’t wait to start work; this year four cooperatives will be working on processing, three of the first level, which in their villages will transform fresh tomatoes into semi-concentrate, and one, in Dapaong, the capital of the region, which will finish off the product, package it and sell it. From next year another four cooperatives will join in, so there will be more than a hundred women working in the production line in the savannah region. Everyone in Dapaong is waiting for "TomaTogo"concentrate. It’s the first experience of semi-industrial tomato processing in the entire country, and it’s happening in the poorest region at the hands of young women unable to read or write who have always been the most emarginated part of the population. The women will start being trained in December, and then production proper, for the market, will start in January.

It’s wonderful to see their efforts; they have a lot of faith in the project but also in themselves. Each cooperative has bought machinery and paid for half of the processing building with a loan from a local bank. There was a great little piece of satisfaction a few days ago seeing each woman with her identity card. To grant a loan the bank insisted on certain formalities, so an identity document was necessary. Here none of the women had even a birth certificate, but now they can say they are officially Togolese citizens! We can’t wait to taste the Togolese concentrate, perhaps with a touch of basil: I’m sure it will be delicious!