Quality and Container Inspection Limited (Q.C.I- Ltd), a landmark for coffee quality located in Uganda
We at ArtOn Café are glad that our friend Mr. Martin Senabulya, Executive Director at Quality and Container Inspection Limited, has shared with us this article about the main activities and objectives of his company
Q.C.I- Ltd, a short introduction
Quality and Container Inspection Limited (Q.C.I- Ltd) is is one of the few companies in Uganda offering services such as the ones listed below:
- Pre-shipment Inspection
- Warehousing
- Coffee quality analysis
- Coffee sourcing.
It is located on Plot 684 Mutesasira zone/Kansanga, its address details are:
- P.O.Box 70251, Kampala, Uganda
- Email addresses : Senabulya.martin@yahoo.com; quality.containerinspection@gmail.com
- Contact number/Whatsapp: +256758976850
Q.C.I-Ltd is the brainchild of Senabulya Martin. Martin is a hardworking and innovative man who was trained by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority in 2009. He has six years’ experience in specialty and Commercial coffees in Uganda and the U.A.E.
The company has contracts with companies such as:
- Cenos Sp Zo.o.-Poland
- Wintergreen-Russia
- Kaiyantang Limited-China/Uganda
- Hatsuia Estate-Brazil
History and current situation
A great deal of enthusiasm, experience, and passion for coffee has gone into the 3 years of the company’s existence. It offers third party services which many of our clients have embraced, and they keep using our services owing to their efficiency and openness – we provide them with what they want.
We are also in partnership with TIVE, a German-based company for the market supplying of coffee real-time trackers. With this tool we can track the shipment in real time, record moisture levels inside the containers and the general state of the shipment. In this way we can report to our clients exactly where the shipment has reached in its progress towards the port of destination. A lot of research has been done to make sure this business is as perfect as it can get, and with our valuable experience in the agriculture industry I believe we will be able to acquire considerable returns in each of the below- mentioned services we offer (cf. paragraph “Services provided by Quality and Container Inspection Limited-Uganda”).
Goal and Objectives
As a Company we are also looking for partners to financially boost our activities. These include:
- Setting up a modern laboratory which can help us offer coffee-roasting courses
- Creating a roastery department under it where the fully trained students will acquire jobs roasting coffee that will be distributed all around this country and its neighbours
- Acquiring more contracts in the fields of pre-shipment inspections and quality analysis
- Setting up coffee shops to generate income and thereby offer more employment to Ugandans
- Locating specialty coffees all around the world, as well as making coffee a big source of income to the local people in Uganda through our Company developing into a bigger entity in Uganda with the construction of various roasteries and coffee shops throughout the country
The goal will be to create the best third party service provider company in the fields of pre-shipment inspections, warehousing and quality analysis, coffee roasting skills, roasting bestselling specialty coffees as well as offering the best service in our unique coffee shops. Mission. Q.C.I-Limited is to be the best third party service provider as regards quality analysis in coffee to be exported abroad, together with warehousing and pre-shipment inspections in and around the country.
Assumptions
The principal assumption is that coffee is loved all around the world, so with our coffee laboratory we will be able to compete favourably in the coffee market. We will be able to acquire contracts owing to the fact we have been doing all these analyses using a government laboratory. Thus acquiring our own laboratory will give us leverage to gain more market share and thus increase our profit margins. Employment of the natives will increase with the acquisition of more contracts, thereby improving living conditions.
Services provided by Quality and Container Inspection Limited-Uganda
The Company provides services such as:
- Coffee quality analysis
- Roasting courses in commercial and specialty coffee (Q and R grading courses)
- Pre-shipment inspections
- Warehousing
- Produce sourcing
Other services include supplying all the coffee produced by the roasting department not only throughout Uganda itself, but also to other countries like Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and those in the U.A.E.
Summary of services provided by Q.C.I-Limited are as follows:
- Specialty coffee roasting courses
- Warehousing
- Pre-shipment inspections
- Product quality analyses
- Produce sourcing (Coffee, grains, cocoa, sesame, beans etcetera)
- Sensitizing Ugandans to the greatness of coffee through seminars, festivals and coffee days designated by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority and other Coffee academies
The Market and Competitor analysis
Our market is the Ugandans who are sensitized to Coffee, both specialty and commercial, and the distributing companies throughout the country and the traders across the country, together with our international clients such as Poland, Germany and the USA.
As for competitors, it is well known that in Uganda there is neither a coffee school nor a roastery specializing in specialty coffee, therefore our company has a monopoly on this business and thus stands to make an abnormal profit.
Marketing and sales Strategies
The idea is to focus Ugandans’ attention on our innovation of specialty coffee attainable all around the world and roasted to international market standards, as well as on our promotions to make people love specialty coffee in Uganda. The sales of the end product will be country-wide through our coffee shops and the packaging of our coffee to be exported to U.A.E and neighbouring countries.
As for the services of pre-shipment inspection, warehousing, quality analysis and coffee sourcing, we already have partners from companies like NUCAFE, AFRICOT Uganda, IDEL Commodities Limited, for whom we source coffee from Uganda and provide the quality analysis and pre-shipment services. And just as we do for Ugacof, kyagalanyi Coffee Factory and Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) we also offer warehousing services.
This has been possible due to our unique methods of working efficiently, to the experience and skills in all these fields acquired during 10 years of employment and thorough research, and to our perfectly trained team.
Key strong points
Q.C.I Ltd-Uganda is going to be the first company in Uganda to start a roaster school in Uganda.
- The first roaster school to offer specialty coffee courses
- It is also going to be the first coffee company to use the Tive trackers from our partners from Germany and the USA (Tive and Weal laboratory) to help track customers’ coffee during shipment to its final destination, as well as to monitor the humidity in it during shipment
- The tracker will also monitor the humidity in the coffee stacked in warehouses to help in the LIFO procedures
Sources
This article was sent to us at ArtOn Café directly by our friend Mr. Martin Senabulya, Executive Director at Quality and Container Inspection Limited
