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NAME: Eric Muthomi
LAUNCHING OUT AGE: 25 Years
COUNTRY: Kenya
BUSINESS NAME: Stawi Foods and Fruits
BUSINESS SECTOR: Agriculture and Production
BUSINESS DESCRIPTION: Processing Raw Fruits into Flour. Started with banana preservation and processing.
STARTUP CAPITAL: Borrowed Capital from family
STARTUP CAPITAL: Borrowed Capital from family
SUCCESS STORY: Because raw bananas have a short shelf life (can rot easily), they have to be properly stored or processed if they must last long. Due to a lack of storage and processing facilities, bad roads and poor access to markets, about half of the bananas harvested in Kenya every year get rotten, are wasted and never get sold. As a result, many Kenyan farmers suffer serious losses after all the money, time and effort invested in farming bananas during the year.
From an early age, he had made up his mind to start his own business after school. He first noticed the problems most banana farmers were facing in Meru, his hometown in...
Central Kenya and one of the largest banana producing regions in the country. He decided to start up a company that would buy raw bananas from local farmers at guaranteed prices, process them into banana flour and package them for sale in the market. This is the idea that formed his company, Stawi Foods.
Stawi Foods(stawi means ‘prosperity’ in Swahili), has improved the lives of thousands of banana farmers by providing them with sure income. It has also helped to increase the shelf life of bananas which would have rot and wasted if they are not sold soon after harvest. The banana flour, which is made from processed green bananas, is gluten free, nutritious and can be used to make baby food, porridge, mashed food, baked foods and soups. This versatile branded product which is sold as ‘Stawi Natural Banana Flour’ is distributed in several major supermarkets across Kenya.
The young entrepreneur studied law at the Catholic University of East Africa graduating in 2010 and has also done short courses in enterprise management at United States International University and banana processing training at Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute. “My intention all along, even when I was studying at the university was to go into business, run my own company. It is not like my law degree will go to waste because it will come in handy when I need to handle the legal issues pertaining to a business,” says the CEO of Stawi Foods.
Eric Muthomi’s idea now allows smallholder banana farmers in Kenya to earn 30 percent more on their bananas than they would have made if they sold it in the local markets. In addition, selling their banana harvests to a guaranteed buyer (Stawi Foods), protects them from the low and fluctuating prices of banana in times of harvest and scarcity. This is helping many young people to remain gainfully employed as banana farmers.
At the moment, this young company (which only started business in 2011), works with more than 100 groups of farmers in Meru which supply the raw bananas used for making Stawi Banana flour. As his Stawi Banana Flour gains popularity across Kenya and the East Africa region, Since he put this amazing idea to action in 2011, Eric Muthomi has attracted a lot of local and international attention. In the same year he started Stawi Foods, Eric won the top prize in the 2011 Nature Challenge Africa competition sponsored by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) Kenya in partnership with NETFUND. He was also listed by Forbes Magazine as one of Africa’s Best Young Entrepreneurs.
From an early age, he had made up his mind to start his own business after school. He first noticed the problems most banana farmers were facing in Meru, his hometown in...
Central Kenya and one of the largest banana producing regions in the country. He decided to start up a company that would buy raw bananas from local farmers at guaranteed prices, process them into banana flour and package them for sale in the market. This is the idea that formed his company, Stawi Foods.
Stawi Foods(stawi means ‘prosperity’ in Swahili), has improved the lives of thousands of banana farmers by providing them with sure income. It has also helped to increase the shelf life of bananas which would have rot and wasted if they are not sold soon after harvest. The banana flour, which is made from processed green bananas, is gluten free, nutritious and can be used to make baby food, porridge, mashed food, baked foods and soups. This versatile branded product which is sold as ‘Stawi Natural Banana Flour’ is distributed in several major supermarkets across Kenya.
The young entrepreneur studied law at the Catholic University of East Africa graduating in 2010 and has also done short courses in enterprise management at United States International University and banana processing training at Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute. “My intention all along, even when I was studying at the university was to go into business, run my own company. It is not like my law degree will go to waste because it will come in handy when I need to handle the legal issues pertaining to a business,” says the CEO of Stawi Foods.
Eric Muthomi’s idea now allows smallholder banana farmers in Kenya to earn 30 percent more on their bananas than they would have made if they sold it in the local markets. In addition, selling their banana harvests to a guaranteed buyer (Stawi Foods), protects them from the low and fluctuating prices of banana in times of harvest and scarcity. This is helping many young people to remain gainfully employed as banana farmers.
At the moment, this young company (which only started business in 2011), works with more than 100 groups of farmers in Meru which supply the raw bananas used for making Stawi Banana flour. As his Stawi Banana Flour gains popularity across Kenya and the East Africa region, Since he put this amazing idea to action in 2011, Eric Muthomi has attracted a lot of local and international attention. In the same year he started Stawi Foods, Eric won the top prize in the 2011 Nature Challenge Africa competition sponsored by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) Kenya in partnership with NETFUND. He was also listed by Forbes Magazine as one of Africa’s Best Young Entrepreneurs.
BUSINESS GROWTH: At the moment, this young company works with more than 100 groups of farmers in Meru which supply the raw bananas used for making Stawi Banana flour. Stawi Foods and Fruits is fast becoming a popular brand and important model on the African agriculture scene. It won the Nature Challenge competition geared at promoting the sustainable use of natural resources in 2011, and, in the same year, bagged the winning prize for agro-processing in the Chase Bank Enablis ILO Business Plan competition.
MUTHOMI'S ADVICE:
* Do not wait for things to be perfect for you to work on your goal, start with the little you have. I had no money, I borrowed capital for the business from my family.
* I do not regard what I do as work because I enjoy it, probably that is why I seem to be working all the time without tiring. I find it to be so much fun.
* I am happy when farmers come up to me and thank me for getting them a market for their product. It is such a satisfying feeling.
* I took this path because I saw there are so many people who graduate with no jobs so I went to university with a clear goal to finish and start a business that will create jobs.
* I do not regard what I do as work because I enjoy it, probably that is why I seem to be working all the time without tiring. I find it to be so much fun.
* I am happy when farmers come up to me and thank me for getting them a market for their product. It is such a satisfying feeling.
* I took this path because I saw there are so many people who graduate with no jobs so I went to university with a clear goal to finish and start a business that will create jobs.
Are you like Muthomi?, Then what are you waiting for?, Start an Agro business.
REFERENCES:
http://www.smallstarter.com/get-inspired/eric-muthomi-stawi-foods-kenya
http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-15605/innovative-businessman-making-meru-go-bananas
http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/analysis/commentary/43943-learning-from-stawi-foods-success-story
REFERENCES:
http://www.smallstarter.com/get-inspired/eric-muthomi-stawi-foods-kenya
http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-15605/innovative-businessman-making-meru-go-bananas
http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/analysis/commentary/43943-learning-from-stawi-foods-success-story
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