Organic coffee opens business window for Kenyan in US

Growers Alliance Coffee Company founder Purity Gikunju at the Nation Centre in Nairobi yesterday. BILLY MUTAI 

By SIMON CIURI

In Summary

Her research had proved that Kenyan coffee had a good selling point in the US, and only a few individuals were involved in the trade.

Purity Gikunju had a solid plan when she left Kenya for the United States through a cultural exchange programme. She had just completed her college studies and her mind was focused on establishing her own enterprise. In the US, she sought to identify business prospects for investment in Kenyan products given she had good contacts before she left the country.

“After graduating with a diploma in hospitality management from Utalii College in 1997, I was lucky to have been selected by Disney Animal Kingdom to travel to the US for a one-year eco-tourism programme,” Ms Gikunju, founder of Growers Alliance Coffee Company, told the Business Daily in Nairobi.

“Coming back home was not an option. The answer was that I badly needed something that could keep me busy and supplement my bills I was jobless when I left the country and I had to look for an alternative option.”

Her company deals in organic and fair trade coffee targeting the European markets. Her research had proved that Kenyan coffee had a good selling point in the US, and only a few individuals were involved in the trade.

“After the one-year sponsorship programme ended, I decided to change my status from a cultural exchange student and enrolled at the University of Central Florida to validate my stay and took business management course,” she said.

Her first job in the US was working as a gas and fuel attendant. Her entry into the world of business was also not easy.
“I managed to save Sh250,000 part of earnings from my part-time job and started to buy and resell small quantities of coffee from Kenyan agencies in the US at a profit in my neighbourhood,” says Ms Gikunju.

“I wanted to test the market first and create contacts that could later refer me to the big corporates and make it easy to enter into big markets.”

She later secured another job as a call centre manager in Florida that enabled her strengthen the coffee business and foot her college fees. She graduated in 2004.
Determined to succeed, she quit the job to focus on her venture.

“The coffee business was well-paying than the part-time job. I had created strong contacts with both individuals and corporate bodies and was certain that if I gave the business full commitment, the returns would be more fulfilling than part-time jobs,” she said

Between 2004 and 2007, Ms Gikunju partnered with renowned Kenyan coffee exporters, but due to high prices, she opted to create her own contacts to sustain supply at lower prices. During the period, she met and entered into an agreement with Martin Kabaki, a Kenyan in the US who also traded in coffee. Mr Kabaki later became not only Ms Gikunju business partner but also her fiancée.

In the meantime, she sought to expand her network of suppliers. “I personally knew Gibson Coffee owners and when I approached them for a business-related partnership, it easily sailed through and they started supplying me with their coffee brand, Africoff.”

In 2008, buoyed by her success, she registered Growers Alliance Coffee Company in the US. In 2010, she registered the company in Kenya to increase her presence locally as well as target Europe. She started exporting roasted coffee to the US as well as the mass market.

In 2011, the company started doing value-addition to Kenyan coffee, mainly for the European market. Today, Ms Gikunju is a successful business woman whose company employees 40 staff. She also buys coffee from E-Comm Trading and then outsources an American company to produce the final product.

“Our main focus is to build a roasting plant here in Kenya where we can process different coffee brands and export it as a complete pack,” says Ms Gikunju.

The company outsources packaging from a China-based company. Ms Gikunju says she believes that Africa can trade rather than peg its hopes for economic growth on aid.