Blockchain-Traceable Avocado & Shea Oil Project in Uganda
In the early hours of May 30, 2026, the Port of Qingdao was brightly lit. A cargo vessel, carrying SIMEC’s complete avocado and shea nut oil production line, sounded its horn and set sail under the client’s eager anticipation, bound for the distant African continent. After an estimated 35-day sea voyage, it will dock at the Port of Mombasa in Kenya, then proceed by land through East Africa to Uganda’s Jinja region. Living up to our client’s trust, we provide end-to-end services, including sea-land intermodal transportation, as well as PVOC (Pre-Export Verification of Conformity) inspections required for equipment import into Kenya and Uganda. We deliver this weighty trust and expectation to the Jinja region of Uganda, into the hands of the client.
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Like Kenya, which is also located in East Africa, Uganda enjoys a favorable climate for avocado planting. Since 2020, Hass avocado farming has been fully commercialized in Uganda. Currently, the total Hass avocado planting area in Uganda has reached 5,340 hectares, with an estimated annual output exceeding 47,000 tons. However, as a newcomer to the East African avocado industry, most of Uganda’s orchards are still young. The industry currently faces challenges including lack of product certification, weak cold chain infrastructure, and inadequate fruit ripeness control, resulting in high export rejection rates. According to feedback from local clients, rejection rates have hit as high as 70% in some shipments, forcing farmers to sell rejected fruit at a low price of only $0.07/kg. The purchase price for some secondary-grade fruit is also only $0.22/kg, far below the $0.68–$0.81/kg price for premium first-grade avocados.
As a leading figure in the local agriculture and animal husbandry industry, Mr. Steven hopes to leverage his industry influence, combined with SIMEC’s advanced cold-pressing technology, to transform these secondary-grade and rejected fruits into high-quality avocado oil for sale in the European and American markets, thereby helping local farmers overcome their current difficulties. At the same time, Mr. Steven, who is well-versed in the European and American markets and possesses exceptional industry foresight and market sensitivity, has proposed reserving technical interfaces for IoT (Internet of Things) technology and blockchain traceability certification in the project, aiming to enter the high-end oil market in the future. This also aligns perfectly with SIMEC’s philosophy.
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Through four months of meticulous technical and commercial communication, SIMEC has reached the following consensus with Mr. Steven on this project:
1. For raw materials including avocados and shea nut kernels, SIMEC provides a complete cold-pressing production line with a processing capacity of 150 kg/h, to produce high-quality virgin avocado oil and shea nut oil.
The specific process flow is listed below:
Pulping and Pasting → Malaxing and Roasting → Oil Pressing → Oil Filtration and Centrifugal Purification → Oil Filling and Capping
2. Upgrade the equipment by installing data acquisition devices;
3. Upload all required collected and monitored data to the blockchain platform;
4. Build a full-process traceability system and create a “Digitally Enforceable Quality Standard” for all oil products, to support remote quality monitoring.
| Goal | Technical Requirement | Commercial Impact |
| Real-Time Quality Control | Live sensor data tracking: oil acidity (pH), peroxide value, FFA% during extraction | Certify “cold-pressed extra virgin” claims for premium EU buyers |
| Predictive Maintenance | Vibration/temp sensors on press hydraulics + roaster bearings feeding ML algorithms | Reduce downtime 30% via part replacement alerts |
| Supply Chain Provenance | Immutable blockchain records from avocado intake→ bottled oil (GPS/time/operator IDs) | Access $15/kg+ ethical markets (FairTrade, ECOCERT) |
| Remote Performance Monitoring | 4G-enabled control dashboards with Uptime/Downtime SLA tracking | Enforce penalty clauses for throughput shortfalls |
| Raw Material ↓ | |
| Machine Sensors ↓ | |
| Real-Time loT Data ↓ | |
| Hyperledger Fabric Node ↓ | |
| Smart Contract ↓ | |
| TDS Compliance Check ↙ ↘ | |
| Pass | Fail |
| Mint NFT Certificate ↓ | Alert Production Manager |
| Append to Batch Transaction | |
*NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, referring to a non-fungible token. It is essentially a trusted digital equity certificate with unique characteristics in the blockchain network, a data object capable of recording and processing multi-dimensional, complex attributes on the blockchain.
*TDS: Technical Data Sheet
During this process, SIMEC delivered extensive technical outputs to meet the above specific requirements, including equipment upgrading and modification, as well as adaptation of control hardware, software, and control logic. For instance, the upgrade and modification of the hydraulic oil press was carried out to enable integration of the SIMEC HOP50/280 hydraulic oil press with IoT and blockchain systems, covering the following key work:
Phase One: Data Collection
Industrial Gateway: Siemens IoT2040 connects to SIMEC’s PLC via the pre-installed port using Modbus RTU protocol.
Sensors: Pressure and temperature recorders with 4G routers are added.
Output: Real-time monitoring dashboard for press indicators (pressure cycles, oil yield efficiency).
Phase Two: Blockchain Integration
Batch-specific QR codes are generated, linked to Pressing parameters (pressure, temperature), GPS-tagged raw material procurement information and Carbon footprint data.
Phase Three: Automation Upgrade
A robotic loading arm is installed, together with an AI oil yield optimizer utilizing historical pressing data.
Once the equipment arrives in Uganda, SIMEC will dispatch technical specialists to carry out on-site installation, commissioning and operator training. Sharing the same vision with our client, we firmly believe this project will become a benchmark initiative on the East African continent. Through deep processing, the added value of off-grade avocados will be enhanced. Meanwhile, embedding modern technologies into routine production will elevate and empower this traditional oil pressing industry. This oil pressing project, together with its future capacity expansion, will drive the robust growth of the local avocado cultivation industry.
SIMEC will keep advancing R&D in oil extraction technology and equipment manufacturing. We will bring more innovative technologies to this traditional industry and deliver greater value to our valued partners worldwide.
Please find below the packing list for equipment shipment, for reference only.
| Mark | Items | Packing Dimensions (L*W*H) | Volume | Gross Weight |
| SIMEC-U01 | SDJ-2-2 Pulping/Pasting Machine | 1100*710*1540 mm | 1.2 m3 | 190 kg |
| SIMEC-U02 | NG40 Malaxing/Roasting Machine | 1400*2020*1700 mm | 4.81 m3 | 705 kg |
| SIMEC-U03 | HOP50/280 Avocado Oil Press | 2380*1380*1380 mm | 4.53 m3 | 2450 kg |
| SIMEC-U04 | CJG750x2 Oil Filtration & Centrifugal Purification Unit | 1480*1150*1900 Mm | 3.23 m3 | 605 kg |
| SIMEC-U05 | SGZ-BZ02 Oil Filling Machine | 900*900*1650 Mm | 1.65 m3 | 105 kg |
| SIMEC-U06 | SGZ-BZ02 Oil Capping Machine | 500*500*1200 mm | 1.2 m3 | 55 kg |