Dutch impact investor DOB Equity has increased its investment in Tanzanian dairy company Tanga Fresh. The new investment will be used to expand production capacity for its long life milk and build out its network of small dairy farmers.

Tanga Fresh produces fresh and long life milk, mtindi (sour milk), yoghurt and ghee. It is based in Tanga, on the country’s north coast. It was founded in 1996 and received its first investment from DOB Equity in 2007. Tanga Fresh Ltd started processing milk in 1997 with a modest milk processing factory with capacity of 15,000 litres a day.

In 2008 Tanga Fresh developed the Modern Dairy Service Network (MSDN) – to improve the collection of milk from local farmers. By 2011 it had a processing capacity of 50,000 litres a day and was the main supplier of fresh milk products to Dar es Salaam.  It currently works with more than 5,200 farmers and has a processing capacity of 80,000 litres a day. Currently, only 7% of milk in Tanzania is processed, offering a major opportunity to dairy processors.

DOB Equity is also an investor in Kenya’s Countryside Dairy, after its investment in 2016. Countryside Dairy is based in Nyahururu, 190km north of Nairobi. It is also an investor in Copia, the heavily-backed digital platform aiming to revolutionise the supply chain for the distribution of grocery products in Kenya’s informal market.