Seun Rasheed
Interview with Seun Rasheed
FOUNDER AND CEO, SOUK FARMS
Lives in: Kigali, Rwanda
Nigerian-born Seun Rasheed was working for oil big Shell in Qatar when a vacation to Rwanda set him on a special path. Through the journey, the large hole between the native worth of ardour fruit and what it offered for in Europe caught his consideration. He realised there was a possibility to construct an export enterprise round that worth hole.
Seven years later, SOUK Farms provides Rwandan-grown produce – together with avocados, chillies and beans – to supermarkets in Europe and the Center East. How we made it in Africa editor-in-chief Jaco Maritz spoke to Rasheed about his entrepreneurial journey and the teachings he has learnt alongside the best way.
Matters mentioned throughout the interview embody:
- How straightforward it’s to begin an agricultural export enterprise in Africa
- Farming challenges: is Clarkson’s Farm correct?
- How lengthy SOUK Farms took to turn out to be worthwhile
- Why Rasheed selected Rwanda over Nigeria
- His key entrepreneurship classes
Watch the complete interview under: (solely obtainable on How we made it in Africa)
Interview highlights
Nigeria-born Seun Rasheed comes from a household of entrepreneurs. His father established a fishing enterprise, whereas his mom ran a fish retail enterprise.
Rasheed moved to the UK in his early teenagers to proceed his schooling. He started his profession at oil and fuel firm Shell, the place he spent greater than a decade working in numerous components of the world.
The inspiration for SOUK Farms got here throughout a vacation to Rwanda in April 2019. At breakfast in his lodge, Rasheed ordered a juice and was shocked to obtain contemporary ardour fruit, given the fruit’s excessive value in markets resembling Europe. When it was served once more at dinner, his curiosity was piqued.
“I used to be pondering ardour fruit should clearly be tremendous low cost in Rwanda. What was meant to be a vacation rapidly became a market analysis journey for me,” he recollects. “In order that’s really the place the preliminary concept for an export enterprise began.”
After a number of additional journeys to Rwanda to evaluate the potential for exporting agricultural produce, Rasheed registered SOUK Farms in July 2019.
Getting the enterprise off the bottom
SOUK Farms made its first export in August 2019, transport a mixture of ardour fruit, avocados and chillies to the Center East. At first, the corporate didn’t develop its personal crops, relying as an alternative on contracted smallholder farmers, often called outgrowers, to produce the produce.
From that first cargo, Rasheed started constructing a broader base of wholesale clients within the UK, Europe and the Center East. Throughout these early months, he spent a whole lot of time visiting potential patrons in these markets. “It’s actually about nearly pestering your purchasers till they are saying, ‘Sure, let me offer you a attempt’,” he explains.
Initially, Rasheed continued together with his day job at Shell, working in Qatar on the time. “I had my 9-5 with Shell, then I had my 7-10 pm with SOUK,” he says. A group on the bottom in Rwanda coordinated the corporate’s operations.
As SOUK Farms expanded, managing its operations remotely turned more and more troublesome. Income rose from $78,000 within the first yr to $1.2 million the subsequent. In 2021, Rasheed left Shell to commit himself to the corporate full-time.
The corporate’s progress gave Rasheed the arrogance to make the transfer. “It was simpler to make that transition as a result of the enterprise was trending in the best [direction] … at the very least I might see the place the enterprise was going,” he says. “I don’t assume I might have left Shell to fully begin a enterprise from scratch.”
SOUK Farms’ merchandise embody avocados, chillies and beans.
Constructing a farming operation
SOUK Farms initially sourced all its produce from outgrowers. However as the corporate expanded, Rasheed turned involved in regards to the dangers of relying solely on them. The corporate due to this fact started growing its personal farms. This proved far more durable than anticipated. The farming operation recorded losses throughout its first few years, which Rasheed attributes partly to difficulties discovering the best folks to guide it.
His personal restricted involvement was one other drawback. Rasheed describes his early method as “phone farming”: he managed the operation from a distance and visited the farms solely as soon as each week or two.
“I actually wanted to dig deep to determine how we might make our farming operation work,” he says. Rasheed then spent about two years intently concerned within the day-to-day operating of the farms, deepening his understanding earlier than step by step stepping again.
SOUK Farms now has 250 hectares of land throughout 4 farms in Rwanda. About half of its produce comes from these farms, with the rest equipped by a community of roughly 2,000 smallholder farmers.
Including worth
Through the years, SOUK Farms has broadened the vary of crops it exports. The corporate focuses on non-traditional produce, which Rasheed describes as “exotics”. Its merchandise embody a number of kinds of chillies and avocados, together with ardour fruit, French beans, sugar snaps, snow peas and Tenderstem broccoli, amongst others.
Many of the firm’s produce remains to be exported contemporary. Rasheed sees value-added merchandise as an necessary avenue for future development, significantly for grade-two crops that aren’t appropriate for export.
Avocados are one instance. Slightly than leaving grade-two fruit unsold, SOUK Farms might course of it into avocado oil. Rasheed hopes to start pursuing this chance subsequent yr.
He provides that worth addition doesn’t essentially require in depth processing. It might additionally contain getting ready blended vegetable packs for stir-fries or promoting frozen greens.
Cash issues
Family and friends funded SOUK Farms in its early years. In 2023, Dutch affect investor Goodwell Investments supplied further capital. The corporate turned worthwhile in 2025.
Rasheed describes the enterprise as extremely cash-intensive, each by way of infrastructure and dealing capital. Prospects usually pay between 30 and 90 days after receiving their orders, however many of the firm’s bills should be settled a lot sooner.
“You’ll be able to’t inform a smallholder farmer, ‘Look forward to 30 days earlier than you receives a commission,’” he says. Farmers typically anticipate fee the day after their produce is collected. Airways usually require fee upfront or inside seven days, whereas packaging suppliers are paid upfront and farm staff on the finish of every week.
This leaves SOUK Farms carrying most of its prices nicely earlier than the corresponding income arrives.
The corporate’s major export markets are Europe and the Center East.
The trade-off between wholesale and retail
Of Rwanda’s 10 largest agricultural exporters when SOUK Farms was based in 2019, solely 4 are nonetheless working, based on Rasheed – proof of how troublesome the business might be.
Wholesaling has comparatively low limitations to entry. “You can begin exporting to the Center East right now with none main certifications, for instance,” he says.
Nonetheless, exporters usually have restricted energy within the wholesale market. A purchaser could reject a cargo on high quality grounds and refuse fee, whereas sudden worth declines can pressure suppliers to just accept lower than the agreed quantity.
“When wholesale costs crash, your shopper will come again to you and say, ‘Sorry, I can’t pay the agreed worth … I can solely pay this a lot – take it or go away it,’” Rasheed explains. “That’s why you see an enormous turnover of exporters as a result of all it takes is to lose out on one huge cargo and your online business is bankrupt.”
Though SOUK Farms started by promoting via wholesalers, the aim was all the time to produce retailers overseas straight. The overwhelming majority of its gross sales now go to grocery store chains in Europe and the Center East, together with Morrisons and Co-op within the UK and Edeka in Germany.
Retailers supply higher margins and are extra predictable counterparties. Securing them as clients, nonetheless, takes significantly longer and comes with extra demanding necessities. Rasheed places the timeframe at “about two to a few years between preliminary contact with the retailer to truly getting your product on the cabinets”.
A part of the reason being that retailers conduct extra in depth compliance checks and verification than wholesalers. Suppliers should additionally acquire quite a few certifications, that are costly to take care of. Rasheed says SOUK Farms spends greater than $50,000 a yr on certifications.
Constructing the best group
SOUK Farms employs round 750 folks, of whom about 80 are expert staff.
Considered one of Rasheed’s largest early errors was hiring based on a set funds, quite than paying what was essential to safe the best individual. “In a short time, you discover that that’s the worst funding you’ve made,” he says. The corporate is now extra ready to supply sturdy candidates the salaries they anticipate.
He additionally advises hiring gradual however firing quick. “A not-so-great worker will lose you some huge cash.”
When hiring, SOUK Farms locations much less emphasis on expertise and extra on character. “You’ll be able to prepare the best folks with the best character,” Rasheed says.
He provides that every group member must be managed based on their character. Whereas some need to be micromanaged, others need to be left alone.
“As dad and mom, you don’t say, ‘I’m going to deal with all my kids precisely the identical means.’ There are particular stuff you tweak for every of your children. Identical factor along with your group members additionally,” he explains. “I actually attempt to adapt to how they wish to be led as a result of that’s the best way I can get the perfect out of them.”
About half of SOUK Farms’ produce comes from its personal farms, the remainder from roughly 2,000 smallholder farmers.
Don’t scale too rapidly
Considered one of Rasheed’s key enterprise classes is to scale step by step. Entrepreneurs, he says, usually pursue fast development earlier than their companies have a stable basis.
“When you transfer too quick while not having a stable basis, you’ll discover that these recurring issues … stick with you, however now they’re actually type of exaggerated since you scaled too rapidly,” he explains.
Scaling step by step doesn’t imply transferring slowly, he provides. “It simply means you’re prepared for the subsequent degree.”
He compares the method to transferring via faculty one grade at a time. Even a proficient scholar would battle if moved straight from grade one to grade 5. Progressing via every stage, he argues, supplies the preparation wanted to carry out nicely on the subsequent degree.
Recommendation for younger folks
Rasheed advises younger folks to stay curious and keen to be taught. “Lots of the youthful group members that I see progress in a short time inside SOUK are of us which might be very curious. They’re very, very eager on understanding how issues work. As a result of the extra they do this, the extra they see gaps, which supplies them alternatives to truly shine,” he says. “So I feel the recommendation I’ll give is simply be curious, be eager to be taught, and thru that every one the alternatives will come.”
