Beekeeping is increasingly becoming a profitable agribusiness with low barriers to entry and high potential for expansion, thanks to the growing demand for honey and other bee products both locally and internationally.
This industry presents a prime opportunity for Kenyans seeking a sustainable income-generating venture. Joreen Kinyua is among the investors cashing in from this low risk venture.
Through her company Joreen Honey, the businesswoman produces organic honey and provides training to farmers on beekeeping.
Narrating her journey, Joreen revealed she ventured into beekeeping in 2019 after multiple disappointments in search for quality honey.
At times, her family would end up disposing of all the honey bought as they were health-conscious, losing money in the process. She saw a gap in this sector, inspiring her to create a solution by stepping into the business.
Before starting the business, she enrolled at the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI) and studied beekeeping and how to process honey.
She later started the company using her college savings which amounted to Sh150,000. Joreen Honey officially started operations in March 2020.
The opening of the company coincided with the arrival of covid 19 pandemic, which pushed the demand for honey higher, given that honey is a key ingredient in preparing ‘dawa’ –a drink that is usually made of ginger, garlic, and lemon, and usually used to treat flu.
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The company has since grown, creating employment to over 10 individuals who assist in the aggregation sourcing, production, packaging, labeling, and distribution of the honey.
Joreen makes profits of up to Sh400,000 in a good month. She sells her products in both wholesale and retail. For bulk orders, a kilo costs Sh350 with a minimum quantity order of 1 ton, while for retail, 500g costs Sh350.
Her key sources for the raw honey are Baringo, West Pokot, Nanyuki, Laikipia, Meru, Embu, and sometimes Tanzania and Uganda.
Joreen explains that the biggest challenge she encounters is during aggregation since most of the honey she receives from farmers is usually degraded.
“The demand for honey surpasses the supply, so many try to increase capacity by adulteration. There is also the fact that honey is seasonal; besides, aggregation is expensive – logistically, you tend to use a lot of resources to aggregate a small amount of honey, leading to inconsistent pricing and sometimes very small profit margins,” she explains.
To ensure she sells high-quality honey, Joreen tests all the honey bought to confirm it’s pure. The chemical tested on pure honey retains its brown color, but if adulterated, the chemical turns orange.
Her brand is currently on online shopping sites, including Jumia, Kilimall, Sendy, and Pessafy, as well as on her website, joreenbrands.com.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Africa accounts for about 12% of the world’s honey production, yet Kenya contributes only a fraction of this potential despite its favorable climate and flora.
As such, the country has, over the years, relied on imports to bridge the local deficit. Kenya imports about 80 percent of honey, given that the local market can only meet 20 percent of the demand.
The few farmers in the venture, however, focus on honey production, leaving the potential in other bee products like bee pollen, propolis, wax, royal jelly, and bee venom untapped, mainly due to a lack of knowledge.
Furthermore, many bee farmers are still unaware of the modern beekeeping practices that can help them increase production.
According to Kyalo Mutua Maveke, the CEO of Savannah Honey, a Kenyan beekeeping enterprise, honey yields are low on traditional hives compared to modern Langstroths, which also give healthy honey in terms of handling and harvesting.
Additionally having a healthy queen can maintain bee population, further increasing honey yield. Maveke notes that a healthy queen should lay between 1,500-2,500 eggs per day.
”Sometimes they become dormant and to curb this situation we superimpose to get an agile queen’’ he says.
In the Kenyan market, for instance, one kilo of honey is priced at Sh700-Sh1,500, while in the Arab market, a jar of honey can fetch almost double this amount, between Sh2000-Sh3500.
