A Daring Kenyan Startup Ventures into Beverage Market with Locally Produced Ciders

One of the most unexplored sectors by Startups in Kenya is the beverage sector with the floor being left for the big bulls to dominate.

However, one startup in Kenya is planning to take the bull by the horns as it ventures into cider production. The fully local company is going for the cider market with a 100% Kenyan cider brand. Kenyan originals, the startup, is planning to take the market by storm with its unique brand and production.

100% of the materials are sourced locally in Kenya and its produced here for the Kenyan consumption. CIO Africa caught up with the founder of Kenyan originals as she spoke about the journey and inspiration behind the new All-Kenyan ciders.

Alexandre Chappatte, whose background is in food and beverage, started making the Kenya originals cider because she was challenged to make an alcoholic drink with real fruit. The raw materials she has found in Kenya have made that possible

“Our vision is to be African leading craft beverage company. Craft for me is about making something that’s from the local area and making it with craft and care,” she said, “For us to know what a Kenyan consumer wants from craft, we looked at what was traditional and has been traditionally rooted in the way that people drink beverages in Kenya.”

Could it be as local as Muratina? Muratina is a local kikuyu alcoholic drink that is made out of 100% local materials (obviously).

The Kenyan Originals founder laughs at this saying that they can’t sell it as Muratina because that would be taking people’s culture and claiming it as your own. She however said that the originality of Muratina which is the reason it is still embraced, drove inspiration for Kenya originals.

“We started thinking how can we make a sweet, strong drink that is from Kenya. What is obvious is that there’s a lot of fantastic raw materials in fruit. We had to use real fruit to make an alcohol drink and then we made the drink and decided to call it cider. If I really had my way I would have probably just called in Muratina but that would have brought a lot of challenges,” she further said.

With the originally Kenyan drink, Kenya originals looks to shake up the big bulls in the alcoholic beverage market sector.