Ep. 194 – How to Collaborate and Sell Ugandan Food Products with Renee Dunn, Founder and CEO of Amazi Foods

Learn about how Renee Dunn from Amazi Foods fell in love with Uganda and how she found the company, pretty much by accident.

But the real gem in this episode is getting into the thick of importing products from a different country. Renee established and built up a relationship with a person producing products in Uganda, but after some difficulties in communication and product delays switched to manufacturing their own facility. What are the pros and cons of having another company create your product? Especially if it’s in another country? You’ll find out in this episode.

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Luckily, my friend Rachel Zemser has the perfect resource for you. She has a book called the Food Business Toolkit that will help you understand everything about starting a food business from formulation to regulation. Use the code MYFOODJOBROCKS at the checkout for 10% off not only the book, but it also applies to an hour of consulting. As someone who’s started their own food business, acquiring knowledge is super important.

You can find the book here: https://alacarteconnections.com/shop/

Money will come and go, but you’ll always run out of time so it’s very important to get the knowledge necessary to move forward.

What do you do?: I work directly with farmer’s groups in Uganda to sell their products
What are your products?: A jackfruit chew, a plantain chip and papaya strips
Our most popular SKU is a salted olive oil plantain chips
Gonja Crisps
Amazi – means water in Uganda. It was originally a different name it was busy
How did you found Amazi?: I studied abroad in Uganda. I first went in middle school.
After going through being a yoga school manager, I quit and went to Uganda. I was asked if I had a booth in this Agprenuer event and made a company. Connected with someone who could sell products and went from there
However, we are now building our own factory
Why did you decide to build your own factory?: The lack of accountability and control and timeliness built up and we’ve decided to create a facility
My Food Job Rocks: The business I created is a form of self-reflection
Food trends and technology: Jackfruit is trending
People are buying things based on what they stand for but the product must be good
What is something in the food industry you’d like to know more about?: Technical Background
Global Entrepreneur Summit in the Netherlands
Social Impact Accelerator
SEED SPOT
Do you have any books you recommend?: I don’t really read business books but I get things via podcasts. How I Built This
Ben and Jerrys Episode
Delighted By Hummus – McKenzie
Delighted By Food Podcast
5 Minute Journal
Conscious Capitalism
The Compound Effect
The Power Of Habit
Amazi Foods