Miriam Nabakwe: Ex-Hotelier Who Quit Her Job, Found Success In Selling Organic Traditional Vegetables

Miriam Nabakwe is the founder of Kienyeji’s, a restaurant selling authentic traditional foods and vegetables.

The entrepreneur also sells traditional vegetables to families who may be in need but they cannot easily access them.

Nabakwe noted that she purposely started selling traditional vegetables to raise awareness on healthy eating.

Here is her story as told by WoK.

Kienyeji’s is located in Ring Road, Kilimani.

They sell a variety of kienyeji vegetables including kunde, terere, sebebe, mrenda, sagaa, managu and regular spinach.

Precooked option is available for takeaway.

In an interview with Citizen TV, Nabakwe mentioned that she set up the business to raise awareness on healthy eating.

She also mentioned that she set up the business to boost traditional vegetables farmers who had difficulty with getting market for their produce.

She has also employed a number of women who help her around her restaurant.

“I established the business in 2014 to help people easily access traditional foods since most of them worked and had little time to look for these vegetables,” Nabakwe said.

To bridge this gap, she would get the vegetables from suppliers, sort them out and even precook them.

Nabakwe who has a background in food and beverage management learnt her cooking skills from her late grandmother and dad who enjoyed cooking.

“My father loved cooked and I liked learning from him, he is the last born so he spent a lot of time with my grandmother. That’s how I grew to love cooking,” she said.

The idea to set up the restaurant was inspired by the fact that most young people are not conversant with traditional vegetables.

“With no starting capital, I started small with some vegetables sent to me by my mother and a freezer bought through assistance from friends. My first clients were my friends,” she stated.

At her business, a sizable number of her employees are women whose main job is sorting vegetables and washing them.

“I’m passionate about women. Most of whom I work with them love their job and they are a bit older. I had a chance to employ women, so why not?” She said.

Nabakwe uses social media to market her business.

She sources them from organic farms, mostly from Western Kenya, even though the business has also contracted farmers within Nairobi to grow organic vegetables.

Before the vegetables are bought, she has to ascertain their quality.

“We risk lifestyle diseases since many of us have adopted western cuisine and no longer eat the traditional foods our grandparents used to eat

“It’s the forgotten foods that I am trying to revive, letting people know that they can still enjoy rich nutritious traditional foods in the city,” she explained.

Her prices range between Ksh 300 to Ksh 900.