About
Our Origins
In November 2011, nei was established as a social enterprise committed to accelerating the economic development of smallholder farmers. During a work sabbatical in Tanzania, former management consultant Juan noticed that many people depended on agriculture but often grew low-value crops like corn. Keen to find a way to increase value for farmers while also respecting the environment and soil, he started exploring vanilla – which seemed like an ideal crop with high export value and customers looking to expand their geographical sourcing. And so, nei was born in partnership with around 30 local farmers.
Today
Today, there are more than 13,000 smallholder farmers working with NEI across the region, as well as a team of 150 collaborators almost entirely based in Tanzania and Uganda. With extensive international experience in Flavours and Fragrances, VP Global Sales and Marketing Nicoletta delivers great taste products for B2B customers around the world – whether through the viva vanilla range or by developing new extracts with other crops like cacao.
Our Team
Leadership Team
Mate Masie
A symbol of wisdom, knowledge
and prudence.
Bese Saka
A symbol of affluence, power,
abundance and plenty
Atoma Ntoaso
A symbol of agreement,
togetherness and unity.
Kokuromotie
A symbol of cooperation,
participation, teamwork,
indispensability, and harmony.
Mate Masie
A symbol of wisdom, knowledge
and prudence.
Atoma Ntoaso
A symbol of agreement,
togetherness and unity.
Bese Saka
A symbol of affluence, power,
abundance and plenty
Kokuromotie
A symbol of cooperation,
participation, teamwork,
indispensability, and harmony.
Board
Sanjay
Rughani
CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Uganda Ltd and Chair of the nei Board
Joris
De Vries
Investment Director of Hooge Raedt Social Venture B.V. and Chair of the nei Talent Development and Compensation Committee
Javed
Mawji
Director of Tanlapia Ltd and Chair of the nei Audit & Risk Committee
Juan
Guardado
Nei Managing Director
Karen Serem
Waithaka
CEO of DOB Equity and nei Board Director
Our Vanilla Setup
Given our mission to create shared value, and the financial and environmental cost of transporting goods halfway around the world, it was important for us to build a local team, farmer network and facilities, from growing the beans to curing and processing.
With the number of partner farmers and volume of vanilla produced continuing to grow, we provide support at different levels, from vine subsidies to dedicated training at setup, regular monitoring at key moments in the vine cycle and help getting certified – with a team of over 20 field agronomists.
A two-way relationship enables farmers and nei to grow and learn together, whether through demos, farm visits or having local champions share their expertise. Building a community creates momentum to share best practices and drive local educational and environmental projects like agroforestry.
Our Agro-Innovation Campus is a hive of activity from demo plots to composting. The campus provides nei with a reliable base supply of certified organic produce, but also the opportunity for farmers to test different techniques and growing conditions – like agroforestry.
To align with global food safety standards, we built our own microbiology labs compliant with ISO standards. Every batch of vanilla is quality checked and can be digitally traced from field to final product.
All primary production and manufacturing takes place in Tanzania and Uganda including controlled curing using tunnels. Local extraction and processing ensure that the vanilla travels less and is kept at its freshest – capturing all the aromas.
