The two are founders of Siha Organic Grocery Stores, an online retail store that offers affordable and healthy organic food.
Going into the business was easy. While pursuing their degrees in Entrepreneurship in Egerton University, they realised that there was business potential for organic produce in Nakuru.
What started as a friendship as Seif Waziri,25, and Paul Rugendo, 23, pursued their undergraduate studies in 2017 has blossomed into a partnership behind a thriving business.
The two are founders of Siha Organic Grocery Stores, an online retail store that offers affordable and healthy organic food.
Going into the business was easy. While pursuing their degrees in Entrepreneurship in Egerton University, they realised that there was business potential for organic produce in Nakuru. There were few traders who could satisfactorily vouch for the safety of the food.
For organic food consumers, safety, as well as traceability, are key concerns. Seif and Paul decided to take action.
It also helped that Paul was passionate about farming and Seif was a fitness enthusiast. Starting a business that incorporates both farming and nutrition was, therefore a no-brainer. And so in 2020, they founded the business.
With an initial start-up capital of Sh1 million, they were able to set up a farm in Nyeri, develop an e-commerce platform and set up a physical store.
“Siha is also committed to providing customised nutritional advice to our consumers who range from pregnant and lactating mothers to individuals battling lifestyle diseases through guiding on which foods to feed on as well as incorporate fitness and overall body wellness,” says Paul.
Organic food is often perceived as expensive hence many individuals cannot bear the extra cost. To solve this, Siha Organics has initiated low cost of production, high volume, low distribution cost and mass-market approach to help maintain low prices.
Siha Organics’ main clientele are middle-income households who mainly access their products by ordering online on their website or via phone calls. They also supply eateries and vibandas.
“We have four value packs that entail assorted fruits and vegetables. The packs are priced from Sh500 to Sh2,000. Consumers place their order through our website, proceeds to checkout and input billing details and their orders are delivered to their doorstep at a fee.”
Business has been good, so much so that they make Sh25,000 in average monthly profits.
With three permanent employees and five farm casual labourers, consumers have a wide variety of around 35 fruits and vegetables that they can access from the shop.
The duo aspire to set up more stores across Nakuru city and nationwide. They also aim at increasing their production capacity.
“The general cost of food has been on the rise. Most households cannot afford to eat a well-balanced diet. We aim at employing cost leadership where our prices are the most competitive in the market.”
The duo are members of Founder’s Orbit, a business incubation facility initiated by Nakuru Box. They note that the facility has been essential in their business growth and development.
“As of now we engage them in our marketing and web management activities through their sister company, Eneza IT solutions.”
Getting affordable and certified organic produce from small-scale farmers has been among their major challenges.
“Transportation of produce from farms to store has also proven to be a great challenge, increasing our operating costs. The lack of a seamless logistics system also affects the quality of produce that gets to the market,” says Paul.
Siha Organics qualified for Agribiz programme by Kenya Climate Innovation Centerin June 2020. The programme provides financial and technical assistance to women, and the youth with innovative agricultural solutions.
“We as well qualified for Mbele na Biz in February 2021, a business plan competition funded by The Ministry of ICT and Youth Affairs and The World Bank. Both programmes have been crucial in actualizing our business idea and supporting our subsequent growth.”
“We plan on fully establishing a certified model farm where farmers will access training on organic farming practices. As technology advances, we aim at integrating artificial intelligence and blockchain technology in our activities. This will, in turn, improve our efficiency.”
