Joseph Choge is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Premier Food Industries Limited (Peptang), a food processing company that engages in the production and exportation of fruit juices, jams, puree, cordials, and canned food products.
He is one of the youngest CEOs in the country, having risen from a businessman. Narrating his journey, Choge revealed he engaged in business after his high school education, making a six-figure income at only 18.
He was running a milk business and would make a high of Sh200,000, an amount that inspired him to continue with business, rather than furthering his education.
“I grew up in Kitale, on a small farm. We grew maize and sold milk. I’d carry 100 litres of milk on my motorbike and take it to town daily. In fact, after high school, I didn’t want to go to university. I didn’t see the need to because I was making so much money,” he stated.
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However, his father, who was a strict military man, forced him to continue with his studies and he obeyed.
He joined the University of Nairobi to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Operations Research, before obtaining an MBA in International Management from the University of London.
Choge began his career as an accounts assistant at Barclays (now Absa) before moving on to a more senior role at Unilever East and Southern Africa, where he stayed for six years.
He then worked with Airtel in Gabon for about a year, but his star picked when he landed a spot as the general manager in charge of telecoms at the Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) in Uganda between 2017 and 2018.
He joined Premier Foods in May 2018, where he is credited for turning around the Ugandan company from making an annual loss of Sh1 billion to profitability in barely a year.
He describes himself as a leader who thinks more with the heart than the head.
