/ Cashew king
Doing business is in Awadh’s blood. His childhood makes Bill Gates look like a late bloomer. He created his first product at age 12 – a range of scented candles unheard of. This year YYTZ has given out 35,000 seedlings to farmers in the district and next year promises 50,000. The expected high yields in the next few years should cement YYTZ’s status as major cashew products exporter.
Processing plant
(Top) Fahad Awadh and (above) cashew farmers in Mtwara
Checking crops in the Mtwara plantations
For more information on YYTZ, visit yytzagro.com
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Twiga
While Mtwara and more recently Dodoma are prominent cashew producing areas, Zanzibar is definitely not. In fact, no cashews are grown commercially on the island at all. Still Awadh is convinced he made the right decision to base his processing plant there. In an effort to revive the ageing business park, YYTZ and many other businesses have been offered benefits such as three years free rent, help with building improvements and duty-free import of raw materials by the Welcoming Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority. Then there is its proximity to Zanzibar’s efficient port and cargo ferry with trucks of shelled cashews coming straight to the processing plant. The port is also the first stage on the shipping route to Awadh’s main buyer in the Netherlands, where the bags of roasted cashews are distributed to outlets in Europe and Canada, including healthy supermarket chain Whole Foods. YYTZ products are also being made available in the domestic market with luxury hotel the Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam recently requesting a number of gift boxes containing dry roasted cashews sprinkled in sea salt as treats for guests. Three retailers in Kenya have also agreed to sell YYTZ products. Awadh, who admits he even dreams of cashews, is experimenting with more potential products with cashew milk, cheese and butter in
the testing stages. Awadh is a disarmingly creative CEO – his designs for a T-shirt company cooked up with two of his friends while still at university in Canada were so good, they were modelled at fashion shows and were bought across the world – and very hands on. “I want to understand everything myself,” he says. He is not your average entrepreneur. He meditates every morning and before we get down to our cashew chat, he talks knowledgeably about the ancient philosophy of stoicism and how it helps him deal with the ups and downs of running his own company. However, doing business is in his blood. His childhood makes Bill Gates look like a late bloomer. As a talented pupil aged 11 in Toronto, Canada, he was selected to attend a full-time business school with subjects such as entrepreneurship and technology added to the syllabus. “It got me thinking in a different way,” he says. He created his first product at age 12 – a range of scented candles, rolled and decorated by himself, of course – which sold out at the district school board’s trade fair. It was an early example of Awadh knowing his audience – primarily female teachers – who he knew would swoon over the candles. Now, Awadh knows the exacting standards of the audience he is aiming for with his responsibly sourced and premium grade cashews. The sustainability is far more than a gimmick. There is a real duty of care between YYTZ and its farmers and Awadh will measure progress as much on their success as his own. “I want to be proud of what I do,” he says. “I’ve never just wanted to be successful. If you see the farmers and they’re still in the same place then I haven’t done anything.”