Voi, the largest town in Taita Taveta county in Kenya, has increasingly become a major tourist attraction place with both local and foreign tourists trooping to sample the major attraction places, with the greatest being The Tsavo East National Park, one of the largest parks in Kenya.
Visitors also like to sample the traditional diet of the Taita (Main tribe in Voi), called Kimanga (a mashed combination of beans plus either cassava, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, or bananas), which is normally prepared during special occasions like weddings. This is accompanied by Mbangara, a Taita traditional drink made out of sugarcane, corn and cassava.
“I just fell in love with the local delicacy, Kimanga during my visit to the town. Interestingly they use a special sauce called Mwachaka, to spice up the food” says Fred Maina, Founder and Incharge of Production at Mwachaka Group.
Mwachaka is a Taita word meaning hot chili. The pepper is ground, mixed with natural spices and cooked to make a sauce.
“I loved the sauce so much that I extended my stay for two weeks. I wanted to learn everything about Mwachaka, how it is made. I had a desire to build a company out of it” says Maina.
Armed with the knowledge, Maina set back to Nairobi, registered a company in 2013 and started operating the business. “It however collapsed after a few sales as I was poor at marketing,” he says.
In 2015, Maina partnered with Joe Kamau, and with Ksh.2, 000 they reopened the business, with donations of equipment from a friend.
In 2016, the partners joined Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), located in Zambesi, Kikuyu town, where they are being incubated and doing their production.
”We have two rooms, given to us at a subsidized fee. One serves as the office and another is used for production” says Joe Kamau, co-founder at the company.
The production process involves drying the pepper, grinding and cooking it with fresh garlic, ginger, rosemary and other herbal leaves, which Kamau cannot disclose terming it “our secret recipe”. The concoction is left to simmer until it forms a thick hot sauce. All ingredients are natural and no preservatives or additives are used
“We use 100 percent pure sunflower oil to preserve our sauces unlike most of our competitors who use chemical preservatives. The shelf life is upto one year.” adds Kamau.
Sunflower oil is rich in Vitamin A and E which helps in promoting skin health. World Health Organization (WHO) fact sheet shows that sunflower oil is preferred over saturated fats as they promote hormonal balance. It is for this reason that it used to extend the life shelf of food items.
“We purely source all our ingredients direct from farmers to ensure they are all fresh. After the sauce is made, we pack it in two sizes of 140g and 250g which we sell at Ksh. 200 and Ksh. 300 respectively. Our current production capacity is 1,500 which are always sold out,” he says, attributing the low numbers to lack of better equipment.
Kamau is however quick to add that, “we got a partnership deal with investors from The KCB Lions Den worth Ksh. 750,000 for 25 percent equity.” KCB Lions Den is a program on a local TV station by investors partnering with KCB bank to promote growing business ideas by funding them, in turn getting an equity share percentage.
“This will help us get bigger production equipment, do some renovations in our office and market our products. We currently have ready market in Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia. We are also looking at extending to the Comesa Market. We will be able to produce over 50,000 packed bottles per month to serve our external market once we get the equipment” This will translate our monthly income to around Ksh. 1,000,000 for a start as we seek to further expand, says Kamau.
The ingredients used are both of health and medicinal values. According to Motley Health, ginger and garlic reduce upto 60 percent of blood clotting and reduce blood pressure. They are also used to destroy harmful bacteria thereby reducing stomach gas and diarrhea and enhancing blood circulation. The two ingredients also contain natural antibacterial characteristics that help in relieving congestion.
Studies by The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) investigating the effects of nutrition on cancer shows higher intakes of garlic were associated with reduced risk of intestinal cancer.
“The uniqueness of Mwachaka from is the medicinal value and health benefits. We try to maintain the authenticity of traditional condiments and sauces that guarantee to bring life by enhancing their taste and nutritional value,” says Kamau
He says that the local herbs they use are used as detoxifying agents in the body system. “They clean our body system of harmful substances that we consume through various food intakes.”
Apart from Mwachaka, the other 15 types of condiments include Ketchup, Garlinger sauce, Eggless Mayonnaise, Guacamole, Mango Apple chutney, Sriracha sauce, Hot and sweet sauce, Choma sauce, chili oil, dry chili flakes, tamarind sauce and tomato sauce. These sauces are tailored toward restaurants, weddings, meetings, caterers and large gatherings. They are mostly available by order and just recently, the partners introduced in shops and smaller supermarkets.
“Due to high competition from the already existing sauces like Tomato ketchup, we decide to test the market through smaller supermarkets. If local demand rises, we will stock them in bigger ones. However, currently our focus is on export as we already have a high demand,” adds Kamau.
Currently, the sauce is gaining ground in Kenya and some of Western Africa countries. This is because of the natural ingredients used which Kamau says are attracting more people. “It is not very common but gaining ground and we are sure everyone who tastes it will have a testimony.”
Before the two partners began the business, they worked at KALRO as research officers. It is a corporate body created under the KALRO Act of 2013 to establish suitable framework for coordination of agricultural research in Kenya. The Nairobi University graduates of agricultural engineering say they fell in love with natural products while doing their research at the organization. “We found out that most diseases were caused by poor eating harbits and especially additives. Our interest further grew with the Maina’s visit to Voi.”
Mwachaka Group has been allocated 5 acres of the expansive KALRO farm to start planting their own chili. This, they say will reduce on their expenditures.
“We are also engaging some youth and women in Kayole and Kibera estate whom we want to train on how to plant chili, ginger and garlic. We already have a pilot project in Kibera. We intend to partner with them, where they will be planting and supply to us.
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