Sondhi Trading Limited
Exporters of East African Coffees
Sondhi Trading Limited has maintained its position as a top 10 coffee exporter for more than a decade. Sondhi Trading Limited’s reputation enables it to export Kenyan coffee to some of the most venerable brands in continental Europe and the USA. The Managing Director of Sondhi Trading Limited is the current Vice Chairman of the Kenya Coffee Trading Association and continues to participate in coffee industry matters.
since
1967
Management
JAY C SONDHI
Managing Director of Sondhi Trading Limited and Mbaraki Port Warehouses (K) Limited
Jay C Sondhi is the present Chairman of the Kenya Coffee Traders Association (KCTA) and remains the only three time Chairman of the association.
He has served on the management committee of KCTA since 2003. Jay is also a Director of the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE), which is a government appointment.
Jay began his commodity career in 1988 in lower Manhattan, New York City, New York at Four World Trade Centre as a Clerk on the coffee exchange at Tropical Trader, Inc. and soon became a licenced commodity futures broker where he assisted in writing their nightly market reports.In 1990, Jay joined Cacao Barry Merchants, a leading French cocoa and cocoa products trading company in mid-town Manhattan where he learned the physical commodity trading business.
In January of 1994 Jay joined his family’s warehousing business in Kenya and on July 1st 1996 Sondhi Trading Limited (STL) was established. By 1999, STL ranked among the top ten coffee exporters in Kenya, where it remains today.
Jay is also the Managing Director of Mbaraki Port Warehouses (K) Limited (MPW), a warehousing business which owns 200,000 square feet of warehousing space strategically located just outside the port of Mombasa.
Jay is also the Chairman of Sondhi Charitable Trust (SCT), a charitable trust which distributes over ninety bursaries per annum to Kenyan students at Kenyan Universities. Jay graduated from the University of Hartford, Connecticut with a degree in Journalism in 1988. Jay was the 1988 New England Division 1 Golf Champion.
JAGDISH R SONDHI
Chairman of Sondhi Trading Limited and Mbaraki Port Warehouses (K) Limited
Jagdish Sondhi is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mbarkai Port Warehouses (K) Ltd. (MPW)
He is a Registered Engineer in Kenya and a Professional Engineer in BC, Canada. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Management. Mr. Sondhi practised as a Civil and Structural Engineer in Kenya and Canada before becoming the Managing Director of MPW in 1987. He continued in this position until 2007 when he became Chairman of MPW.
In 1995, when he was the Managing Director of MPW, he and other shareholders of MPW established Sondhi Trading Ltd (STL) as an associate company to trade in coffee. STL is now a top ten coffee trading company in Kenya. Mr. Sondhi continues to serve as a Director of STL.
Mr. Sondhi has carried out warehousing research in Africa and has published papers on the subject. He also served on the Executive of Logistics Boards in Kenya. He assisted in starting Diploma Programmes for Warehousing, Clearing and Forwarding at the Bandari College in Mombasa. He lectured on Warehousing for several years at Bandari College and was Chairman of the Examiners Board for the Diploma in Clearing, Forwarding, and Warehousing.
Mr. Sondhi joined the Lions Club of Mombasa in 1960. He served as President of his Lions Club. He was elected as District Governor in 1965 for District 411 comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. In 1968 he was elected for a two year term in Dallas, Texas, to serve on the International Board of Lions Clubs International (LCI) representing the continent of Africa and SW Asia. He has been recognized by LCI with several awards including its most distinguished award, “The Ambassador of Goodwill Award.”
In conjunction with his brother and sister, he established the Sondhi Charitable Trust (SCT) in Mombasa in 1979. He served as its founding Chairman and continued in this position until 2007. He still serves as a Trustee of SCT.
