By Kimuri Mwangi
For a long time in Kenya, coffee has been produced specifically for drinking, which has also not been wholly embraced locally. There are so many coffee farmers who have never tasted their coffee, as they sell everything they produce.
This narrative is changing as technology evolves, and people get more creative. Eunice Maranya had the same perception about coffee. Hers was worse, as there was religion involved.
I met Eunice at an event to inform and support government entities and development partners on pathways to transform the coffee value chain in Kenya, organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as the lead joint programme agency in partnership with FAO. The event also served as a unique platform for stakeholders across the value chain to collaborate, partner, share knowledge, and highlight success stories. The event aimed to showcase the potential of the Kenyan coffee value chain and accelerate the development and implementation of projects in the space.
“There’ve been a lot of stories. I grew up, maybe I should not mention my religion, but there were a lot of stories about coffee being injurious to people’s health. I’m sure you know that story from literature a long time ago. But over time, I think the story around coffee has evolved a lot to the point where now it’s recommended as a beverage. And then when you look at it like, if it’s good as a beverage like the way where you consume herbs and everything, it must also be good for your body. Even for the externals of your body, it must be good. So that’s when I developed an interest because I’ve always been interested in developing new things from the things that we see around us, be it herbs, coffee or tea,” she said.
Armed with a science degree after university, she started making detergents, disinfectants and cleaning agents to supplement her salary. She then decided to add some natural stuff like natural soap and so on. Then, as the competition heated up and she was working, she had to look for something else which was different from what was in the market. She ventured into natural products, and that’s how “Blends of Nature” was born.
“I like the issue of wellness and not choosing too many chemicals in products that I use on my body. Blends of Nature is a company that works on developing natural products for personal care. We do hair products, face products, massage oils and stuff like that,” said Eunice. Then coffee came in. “There’s a time I always thought that coffee was just for drinking, until I did some research when I was trying to look at what kind of innovative products we could add to our portfolio. And then I realised that coffee is a really good ingredient for adding to products for hair, face and the body, because it’s got antioxidant effects on the products. And so, I decided, why don’t I experiment and see if I can incorporate them in my product?”
Coming from Kisii, she buys coffee from there to promote her home, then the coffee is ground “Then I do macerations and infusions. That’s keeping the coffee in oil for some time until the coffee’s aroma gets into the oil and all the nutrients get absorbed into the oil. And then I use it to start making all the other products. I’ve got a big range starting from hair. There’s a product that makes your hair grow, another one for maintaining your hair, and there’s another one which gives it shine. I’ve got like three hair oils and two hair butters. Then for the face and normal dry skin combination. There’s a whole range. It turned out very well, and I’ve had very good reviews about the effects that those products have on people’s hair and their skin,” she opines.
She started the venture towards the end of 2019, but started using coffee towards the end of last year. She has faced several challenges. “As you can imagine, I walked right into COVID thereafter. There are also so many challenges with markets, with selling products. Then we’ve always got these issues with taxes and financing. It’s quite a challenge, especially to build a brand which is local. And if you’re looking at exporting, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and it’s not cheap work. Then there’s also the issues around formulating, getting people who are very good at supporting with formulations is not easy. So sometimes it requires you to get outside to find formulators who can help you come up with very effective products.
She sells her products through an e-commerce platform blendsofnature.co.ke. and she is in a few stores in Nairobi, like Shamba in Loresho, Spinner’s Web in Kitisuru, Langata Link shop, Village Market and Sarit Centre.
Her plans include being able to build on her brand and develop more coffee products, as she has also developed a face and a body scrub from coffee in addition to the other products. The most popular are the face products, then hair products, followed by body oil.
Her advice to women who would want to enter into the coffee value chain is “I think it’s important for women to look for their spot because if you start competing with people who are already established, like if you say men have been established in the coffee thing, look at in which area are they established. Normally, it would be selling coffee, maybe big bags and exporting it. Look at the entire value chain and see where it is that you can fit in and work there. Don’t start competing with the big boys, especially if you’re small, because you’re not going to win that fight. Look at where you can use your skills and products that are available and build on that.”
She also has a message to the youth: “Kenyans, I think we’ve got a very smart population, and I’d like to speak especially to the young people. There are so many of them without jobs. Can you look around, just look at a crop. Let’s take coffee, for instance, because that’s what we are working with right now. Look at coffee from the time it’s been planted. Can you provide the seeds? Can you provide the seedlings? When it’s growing, what can you do with the leaves? What can you do with the berries? When it’s ready, what can you do with the beans? Can you grind them? Can you sell them? Can you set up a shop? I like what people have done with tea, adding flavours, just adding some zing to the drinks and putting it in other products. For example, we didn’t know that you could use caffeine for the oils, as I said. What can you do to develop new products around that area?”
Eunice also has an exit plan once everything is aligned. “I plan to grow the brand and export the products. I’ve got an exit plan because I’d like to get younger people to take over from me so that I can relax and they work for me. But I’d like the product to be out there, a Kenyan product to the world.”
