Cracking the nut industry: how Kenya adopted the world's most valuable nut, with Charles Muigai
- S4E15
- 51:24
- November 28th 2019
Do you know what the world's most expensive nut is?
It's the macadamia nut.
Similar in shape and colour to a chickpea, but up to twice the size, it's originally from Australia and is now grown in several tropical locations around the world.
In Kenya, the first trees were grafted and planted in the 1970s with a few disparate growers and aggregators each individually trying to generate a market.
Ten years ago Charles Muigai founded Nutpak an industry body for nut processors in Kenya.
They deal with peanuts and cashews too, but the real business in macadamias where they represent Kenyan producers both at a national government level and internationally.
Charles and I chat about all angles of how this industry is growing in Kenya including the minimum "farm gate" price set for macadamia farmers, the process by which they are packaged and ultimately exported, and lessons other burgeoning industries can take for their role on global stage.
READ MORE AT:
https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/11/28/cracking-the-nut-industry-how-kenya-adopted-the-worlds-most-valuable-nut-with-charles-muigai
The East Africa Business Podcast: African Start ups | Investing | Entrepreneurship | Interviews
A podcast interviewing entrepreneurs and business leaders in the emerging market of East Africa. Host Sam Floy showcases companies operating across Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia. Find conversations with companies ranging from solar power and food production to smoothies and toothpicks.