Florah Mutahi is the founder and CEO of Melvin Marsh International, a tea manufacturing company distributing the highest quality flavoured teas of Kenyan origin.
Despite pursuing accounting in university, she has managed to steer her company to success in the 20 years that she has been in business.
Mutahi practiced accounting for nine months before quitting due to lack of passion to exploit entrepreneurship options.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Immediately after quitting her accounting job, Mutahi told her family of her decision to pursue entrepreneurship.
Although her family were not happy about her decision, she stood her ground and hit the ground running.
She started off by working on a free-flowing salt, Kenya’s first, which she introduced into the market under the brand name, Melvin Marsh International.
To develop the free-flowing salt, Mutahi partnered with a lecturer from a local university and a friend who helped her with the design of the final product.
Her initial orders include one from a local hotel which demanded some 1,200 packs of the salt.
“I was so green in business. When I delivered the salt to the hotel, I thought I would get paid the next day but it took them 90 days to pay,” Mutahi recalls.
A while later, Mutahi decided to introduce a new product, and started making flavoured and infused teas, trading under the Melvins Teas label.
This followed a trip to Mombasa in 1994 to have a meeting with key players in the tea industry.
Mutahi’s first product was the Melvins Ginger Tea which she developed with the help of her lecturer friend.
With the ginger tea, the company did not struggle to get listings in the bigger supermarkets and business gradually picked up.
Today, they have Melvins Pure Kenya black tea, Melvins Masala Tea, Melvins Sweet Cinnamon Tea, Melvins Cool Cardamom, Melvins Lemon Twist and Melvins Very Vanilla Tea.
They also have flavoured green teas including Melvins Green tea, Melvins Green Tea and Mint.
Herbal and fruit infusions available include Melvins Hibiscus Tea, Melvins Chamomile Tea, Melvins Lemon and Ginger Tea and Melvins Berry Blast Tea.
Melvin Marsh International also have a fortified black tea called Chai Afya.
The company also runs a tea house called Melvins Moments Tea House, in the New Lavington Mall, Nairobi.
The company doesn’t have their own tea farm but they work with tea farmers from different parts of the country.
“We mill our ingredients from scratch and work with outgrowers for our flavours such as camomile and lemongrass; we don’t use artificial preservatives or flavourants. Our expertise is in the blending and the flavouring,” Mutahi explained.
In 2017, Mutahi was feted the best female CEO in the top 100 mid-size companies.
