•According to the regulator, the recognition is also for the chemistry and microbiology analysis of milk and milk products.
•The firm which is associated with the Kenyatta family has also been recognised for tax compliance in Uganda.
Uganda’s Brookside Limited, whose parent company is Kenya’s Brookside Dairy, has received a major boost in the marketing of its products.
This is after the neighbouring country’s quality standards regulator gave thumbs up to the firm’s milk quality testing systems.
Uganda has endorsed the company’s products on account of quality, with the Uganda National Bureau of Standards issuing a certificate of laboratory recognition to Brookside.
The recognition decision was made on July 30, according to a certificate issued by the Uganda quality regulator to the processor, which has a major dairy factory in Kampala.
“The recognition demonstrates technical competence and the operation of a laboratory quality management system to perform the requisite quality tests,” the bureau wrote in a communication to Brookside Limited.
According to the regulator, the recognition is also for the chemistry and microbiology analysis of milk and milk products, which were found to be in tandem with recognised international standards.
Brookside Limited’s General Manager Benson Mwangi expressed delight at the development, saying it underscored the firm’s commitment to continue supplying the market with products of the highest quality.
“We are delighted to inform all our customers and stakeholders that we have successfully achieved the ISO 17025 standard on laboratory management, which is a demonstration of our high milk quality testing processes,” Mwangi said from Kampala.
The certification is a validated way of demonstrating commitment to product and process quality, and further consolidates Brookside’s market leadership in the region's dairy industry.
The firm, which is associated with the Kenyatta family, has also been recognised for tax compliance in Uganda.
According to Uganda Revenue Authority Commissioner General John Musinguzi, Brookside has been instrumental supporting economic development in the country.
Meanwhile, Brookside Uganda is pushing for more exports to Kenya, in a move that has seen it lock horns with Kenya Dairy Board (KDB).
According to Brookside, KDB has allowed imports from certain Uganda processors, while denying its Fresh Dairy brand market access.
They include Uganda’s Lato and Dairy Top milk.
KDB managing director Margaret Kibogy has however maintained that Kenya is open for business and it supports trade and investments in the dairy industry, amid a push to increase production, processing and exports to international markets.
“Brookside is one of our leading processor in the dairy sector and doing a commendable work in supporting the farmers and consumers in Kenya. KDB will continue supporting Brookside and all other processors in the sector towards making the dairy industry vibrant and attractive,” Kibogy affirmed.
According to KDB, the sector remains stable with farmers enjoying stable prices, currently averaging at Sh47.6 per litre.
“We are glad the sector is really growing. Farmers in organised co-operatives enjoy economies of scale. We are putting in the right structures to increase production and product diversification as we target growth in exports,” Kibogy said.