Sociologist toasts to fruitful jam and marmalade agribusiness

Kitusuru, a sprawling suburb on the outskirts of Nairobi, is characterised by palatial homes with strict zoning that makes it attractive to discerning middle and upper class families.

It is in the suburb, located some 12km from Nairobi, that Geoffrey Okinyi runs his value addition start up named Nature’s Tastes.

Seeds of Gold team finds him and three of his 12 staff cleaning dozens of cucumbers before they slice them.

“We make various types of jams and marmalades from mangoes, passion fruits, strawberries, tomatoes, pineapples, grapes, plums, lemons and oranges. Our major product is, however, strawberry jam,” says Okinyi.

For marmalades, they make them from oranges, grapes, lemons, tree tomatoes, onions and lime.
Okinyi further makes hot sauces from chilli, garlic, ginger and other spices and pickles from vinegar and salt.

“I started Nature Tastes to make products that are not only unique but also have immense health benefits,” says the entrepreneur, who holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and literature from the University of Nairobi.

His interest in value addition stems from his experience working at Muthaiga Country Club’s kitchen store, a job he got in 2000.

"I would go to the cooking areas where I learnt the different kinds of foods. I began to develop interest in foods,” he recounts, noting he gathered more experience at a hotel he moved to until 2012 when it closed down.

Jobless, he seized the opportunity to start his own venture, investing Sh25,000. He used the money to buy ingredients that he used to make red salsa spice, which he sold to his Asian friends in Nairobi.

"I later took samples to the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) where they were certified. I then bought a grinder, high pressure cookers, stainless tables and cutting materials to expand the business,” says Okinyi, who between 2018-2021 studied food technology at Nairobi Technical Training Institute, to professionalise and grow his agribusiness.

Besides a business permit and a public health certificate, one also need a Kebs certificate to run such an outfit. The standards agency issues stickers to enable one to access the market.

At the rented premises he operates from, he has partitioned it so that there is an area for receiving farm produce, weighing,  washing, slicing, cooking and bottling.

He sources mangoes from Ukambani, strawberries from Nyeri, chillies from Nanyuki, passion fruits from Busia and oranges from Tanzania.

“The quality of farm produce I get determines the end product, so I work closely with contracted farmers and trusted middlemen to source fruits,” he says, adding he gets tomatoes, courgettes, spinach, chilli, coriander, onions, apples, plums, cauliflower, cucumber and peas from Kiambu and Murang'a.

“Once I receive the products, I weigh and then sort to remove dirt. We then wash and slice them on top of stainless aluminium tables, then store in a cool, dry place to ensure the quality is maintained.”

To make one kilo of strawberry jam or marmalade for instance, one needs 3kg of the fruits, he offers.

For marmalade, he uses the flesh and peels of the fruits, for instance, oranges which give the end up product flavour.

Nature’s Tastes

From lemon, he extracts peels which are rich in pectin. The peels and flesh from oranges and lemons are mixed and evaporated at a set temperature. 

He then adds sugar to the mixture  which is then boiled to remove the water and then left to cool and later packaged for storage or distribution.

A similar process is used to make jam. However, in the latter he adds a sweetener and citric acid before cooling and packing.  

For hot sauce, he uses chilli, tomatoes, onions, garlic extracts, essential oils and spices like coriander.

“The items are sliced and ground together. The mixture is then evaporated, then essential oils and spices are added.”

He sells the products branded Nature’s Tastes to households, supermarkets like Naivas and Chandarana, hotels and restaurants in Nairobi such as Mambo Italia and Muthaiga Country Club.

At the Coast, he sells to Blue Marmalade Hotel in Watamu and Multi-grocers in Malindi, where a 450g pack of strawberry jam goes for Sh610, 400g of mixed fruit jam Sh490 while 450g of orange marmalade costs Sh500.

On the other hand, 325g of hot red salsa kachumbari costs Sh440 while 400g of mild red salsa Sh450.

While he uses social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to market his products, most of his sales come from referrals and field promotions.

“One of the challenges we face is that sometimes we have scarcity of fruits and even sweeteners like honey,” says Okinyi, who is in-charge of marketing the products and his fast-growing business that is now worth thousands of shillings.

Dennis Ngelyo, a plant scientist from Egerton University, says a huge potential in fruits and vegetable production remains untapped.

“To succeed in making jams and marmalades, one should use fully ripe fruits for good flavour. Some green fruits can also be incorporated in the mixture since they are a rich sources of pectin, an important component for maintaining a stable blood pressure and improved digestion.”

He cautions that slow and over-boiling of fruits and vegetables end up destroying the pectin.

“For spices, they should equally be made from onions, ginger or chilli that is of good quality to avoid compromising the taste.”