Moses Kiptanui is a former 3,000 steeplechase champion.
Known for his coaching role in his later years with Tarbert GAA, he was also the first man ever to run 3000m steeplechase in under eight minutes.
After quitting professional athletics, Kiptanui retired to his farm in Trans Nzoia County where he has been practicing farming.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Dairy Farming
Just like any other budding dairy farmer, the athlete started his venture with a few cows producing a few litres of milk.
Kiptanui started with 20 cows which gave him up to 20 litres of milk per day. As of 2020, he had 150 cows which produced up to 1,000 litres per day.
He has 100 acres of land in Cherangany where he practices dairy farming, and does his own breeding to ensure that he gets the best breed for milk.
As of 2020, the highest yielding cow produced 35 litres of milk per day while the lowest one produced 15 litres.
Kiptanui also produces his own animal feeds to maximize profit from his animals and cut the cost involved in dairy farming.
“I formulate my own feeds here at the farm and this ensures that I get the right ratio and the right nutrients for my cows,” he said.
The former athlete has also invested in real estate, and he runs a chain of supermarkets spread across Cherangany, Kachibora, Eldoret and Kitale.
Kiptanui opened the latest branch of his supermarket on December 5, 2020 at Komora Center in Eldoret CBD.
He is the owner of the building.
“This is our fourth branch after many years of trying to catch up with other retailers. It is good to sacrifice to run for the country and also sacrifice in this world of business
“At the moment, we have 30 employees and we are being supported by other branches.When business gets back to normal, we expect to employ up to 70 staff in this branch,” he stated during the grand opening event.
Under his Tulin brand, Kiptanui also runs a bakery where he makes bread among other products which he supplies to his supermarkets.
He also admitted that despite being into dairy farming, he sells milk from other brands in his supermarket.
“In most cases you would find that imported milk is Ksh 10 cheaper when compared with our local commodity, this makes it difficult for it to compete in shops as consumers will tend to go for one with cheaper price,” he said.
World record
Kiptanui smashed the world record in steeplechase race on June 8 1995, at a Grand Prix meeting in Rome Olympic Stadium in Italy.
He was rewarded a pedigree stallion for winning the race.
However, logistical challenges regarding how to get the stallion to Kenya influenced his decision to sell it before travelling back.
He revealed that he actually sold the horse for about Ksh 880,000 at the time, he had no idea that the financial proceeds he got from the horse would kickstart his journey into the world of entrepreneurship.
The money changed his life from being a steeplechase champion to an astute milk producer in the North Rift and big time real estate owner.
