Anzazi Kiti is the founding director of Taste Afrique, a processing company making natural ready to eat food seasoning.
Kiti is a former forensic auditor who quit her job to found the company which currently makes over six natural food products.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Quitting employment
Before quitting employment, Kiti worked with as a Forensic Auditor specializing in forensic auditing and investigations.
While still in employment, she started making Chibundiro, a precooked natural food seasoning product made from vegetables and spices.
“I made it during my free time, then later on I decided that this is something that I can focus on fully and that’s how I started Taste Afrique,” Kiti said.
Taste Afrique
In an interview with Utmost Precision, Kiti noted that she sources her raw materials which are mostly spices and vegetables from local farmers.
They include onions, ginger, garlic, dhania, cardamon, cinnamon, black pepper and cloves.
“We work with smallholder farmers, currently we work with nine active farmers who supply raw materials
“They bring, we check the quality, if the quality is good, we take up. We are also trying to help them in terms of the right inputs so that they can give us quality,” Kiti said.
Chibundiro as a product is precooked which means its ready-to-eat and it can be sprinkled on the food right after serving it.
“It’s highly nutritious and it has a long life, you don’t have to keep it inside the fridge. It has a shelf life of over three years,” she said.
While starting off, Kiti would make the food seasoning and sell it to friends and colleagues who encouraged her to seek the required approvals.
“I finally got incorporated and got the KEBS approval which gave me more confidence to sell and have it on outlets,” she added.
The company also has an FDA approval certification which allows them to sell their products abroad.
Kiti explained that her main route of marketing is social media and through the word of mouth.
“Because of the company being a start up, we don’t have enough capital to advertise on billboards or mainstream media. The word of mouth has been helpful in this case,” she said.
Challenges
Kiti highlighted introducing a new product into the market as one of her main challenge in the five years that she has been in business.
She also cited competitiveness and lack of funds for marketing as among their major challenges.
“However, with people embracing the product, we are able to penetrate according to our own pace without looking at our competitors,” Kiti said.
