About zena exotic

ZENA EXOTIC FRUITS is one of leading companies in the agribusiness in Senegal. Established in 1986, this family production unit was refurbished and recreated by its new management. Since then, and starting in 2004, the company has pushed itself from expansion to expansion and from success to more success. Till 2008 the company was named UNISALI and has been renamed as ZENA in honor of the of the eldest daughter of our creator, Mr. Toufic Filfili. Mr. Filfili had the vision of creating a company that would transform the local fruits and vegetables while ensuring to give higher value to the products of the land which used to rot at the end of the big seasons. Son of a farmer, Toufic Filfili got interested in mangoes, a product that used to be available in huge quantities with no other destination than exportation, hence used to be thrown away. Mr. Filfili with his Mediterranean roots, got interested in transforming that product into the first Jam ever produced by ZENA. The start wasn’t so encouraging, nor from family; nor from market, as the product wasn’t adapted to the culture of the country. The objective wasn’t to create a career out of the transformation business yet to find a way to stop this loss of fruits that was reoccurring year after year.

With time and effort, the same experience started for the papaya, guava and Hibiscus leaves and many more fruits, fruits that demonstrated the ecological diversity in Senegal. At this period of time, the commercial aspect of UNISALI started developing as Mr. Filfili was starting to get known around the city for his special jams and jellies. Till 1995 Mr. Filfili was still enjoying his transformation unit and was still considering it as a hobby, till Mr. Zouheir Filfili, driven by the urge to assist his father, decided to join the team, marking a huge changing point in the timeline of the company. Mr. Zouheir expanded the operations of ZENA EXOTIC FRUITS turning it into a commercial company while innovating in products and developing his father’s ideas, turning them into a colorful reality. The family aspect of the business expanded, in 2003, with Mrs. Randa Filfili, our current GM and the wife of Mr. Zouheir joining the company.

Luckily, with the assistance of the «West Africa Trade Hub», an office of the USA Embassy in Senegal, who started the initiative of assisting and developing Senegalese companies to be able to export to the USA Market, thanks to the preferential agreement granted by the Government (AGOA). The success of that initiative is proven by ZENA, being a Senegalese company, is a member of the US Chamber of commerce. To fortify its presence as a leader on the market, ZENA EXOTIC FRUITS, got distinguished from other companies by adhering to the rules and getting the certification of many international food safety Companies (Certified ISO 9001 by Veritas, HACCP, US FDA Registration, Respect of the CODEX Alimentarius, and respecting all the health and hygiene practices during production…).

This is in short, our story, a story of a visionary, a family company, and a dream of showing the best of Senegal to the world.