November 2020
DOB Equity, a Dutch family office, is investing in Victory Farms, East Africa’s largest commercial fish farm to allow the firm to scale up its production capacity and expand its reach across the Kenyan market.
By investing in Victory Farms, the Private Equity fund with offices in Kenya and the Netherlands will be seeking a slice of the estimated USD500 million Kenyan fish market.
Established in 2015 and based in Homa Bay, Kenya, Victory Farms supplies tilapia for the Nairobi market. Victory Farms aims to become the world’s first carbon neutral fish farm and has ambitious growth plans to provide affordable, accessible and healthy protein to millions of people in East Africa.
Victory Farms is a vertically integrated aquaculture business, owning hatchery ponds, deep water cages, a processing plant and cold chain distribution to mass markets in Nairobi and Western Kenya. The company has 20 branches in Nairobi selling to hundreds of local food markets, who go on to sell the fish through their own business.
DOB Equity explains that protein consumption in East Africa is on the increase and fish in particular, is a healthy source of protein with a better environmental footprint than other meats. Unfortunately, wild catch in Lake Victoria has reached its limits and in Kenya, tilapia stock is 80 per cent lower than twenty years ago. This supply deficit is currently being filled by lower quality imports from China.
Hayo Afman, co-CEO of DOB Equity, says: “Our latest deal in the East African aquaculture sector will allow Victory Farms to meet the increasing demand for protein, driven by population growth and increased disposable income.”
Victory Farms Managing Director, Joe Rehmann, says: “The entry of DOB Equity will help to further boost the firm’s efforts to expand while helping them reach their goal of becoming the most sustainable fish farm on the planet.”
“DOB Equity’s investment has come at a crucial time for Victory Farms, we are on track to sell 30 metric tons of fish per day, the equivalent of more than 20 million high-protein meals per year.”
“We are thrilled to have partnered with DOB Equity, who share our vision of fostering social development by delivering safe and affordable food to the mass market in an environmentally sustainable way.”
Bon Tjeenk Willink, investment manager at DOB Equity, says: “Kenyan consumption of fish is only one fifth of per capita global consumption and less than half of Africa’s average. By partnering with Victory Farms, they will be able to fill Kenya’s supply gap, which we look forward to helping the company achieve.”
