African businesswoman Sally Sawaya was interviewed by Marian Finucane at a special ‘Business Breakfast’ event in Dublin recently to discuss the success of her co-operative food business. Sawaya is general manager of Meru Herbs Kenya, a co-op beside Mount Kenya that has moved from subsistence farming to raw fruit export to gourmet food production, selling speciality jams and organic teas around the world via fair trade channels.
African businesswoman Sally Sawaya was interviewed by Marian Finucane at a special ‘Business Breakfast’ event in Dublin recently to discuss the success of her co-operative food business.
Sawaya is general manager of Meru Herbs Kenya, a co-op beside Mount Kenya that has moved from subsistence farming to raw fruit export to gourmet food production, selling speciality jams and organic teas around the world via fair trade channels.
In the process, Meru Herbs is creating jobs and stimulating the local economy as it buys sugar, packaging and other overheads.
During Sawaya’s visit to Ireland she also attended two sales meetings for the Scottish and English markets, and had discussions with Paul Rattigan of Zeus Creative, which has assisted Meru Herbs in the redesign of its branding and packaging.
Later, Sawaya met with Tom Harper, a marketing consultant who is supporting Meru Herbs in developing its international marketing strategy.
And Joe Doyle of Donnybrook Fair showed which products do best in his shops and what a buyer like him is looking for when selecting products for his stores.
Meanwhile, Helen Gee of Gee’s Gourmet Jams gave Sawaya a tour of her factory showing how they also make their range of jams by hand.
The Business Breakfast and other meetings were organised by Value Added in Africa, an Irish and UK fair trade charity that works to build sustainable channels into market for African-made products.
