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Ananas Mall located in Makongeni estate in Thika is one of the biggest shopping malls in Kiambu County.
The mall features over 50 stores, including Naivas Supermarket, several restaurants, bars, a gym, a children’s park, and over 350 secure parking spaces.
Ananas Mall was opened in 2015, becoming Thika’s first mall. Its name, “ananas” which means pineapple in Swahili is representative of the pineapple fields that once sued to sprawl the land on which the mall now stands.
The Sh500 million was established by a consortium of investors led by Capwell Industries Ltd, a family company headed by Rajan Shah (CEO), and Chetan Shah (marketing director).
The group of investors comprised longtime entrepreneurs mainly from Thika and its environs, who pulled resources together to give Thika residents services that were only available in Nairobi.
“We are a group of Thika investors who have resided in Thika for over 40 years. The investors identified the growing needs of the Thika community and rightfully decided on this investment,” said Mr. Shah in a past interview with Business Daily.
“There is a growing middle class here in Thika and bringing them the mall experience means shoppers do not need to travel to Nairobi and all their needs are catered for at very close proximity,” he added.
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Rajan Shah was elected the Vice Chair of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers in 2020. He also served on the KAM Board in various capacities and as the regional Chairman for KAM Central Region.
He currently leads operations at Capwell Industries Ltd, a family-owned food manufacturer. The company manufactures some of the popular rice, maize, and baking flour brands in the country, including Soko Flour, Pearl Rice & Pulses, Ranee Rice & Spaghetti, CIL Rice, and Amaize Maize flour.
The firm has been at the forefront of promoting local communities and sources raw materials locally for most of their products, from maize, wheat, and porridge flours as well as ready-to-cook pulses, rice.
According to Rajan, they trade in imported pasta. All are informed by customer feedback that we closely monitor to inform our new investments.
As a way of giving back to the community, Capwell in partnership with Twiga and Shree Vaishnav Vanik Mahajan, launched a foundation (Capwell Foundation) to sponsor needy students in Kiambu county.
Notably, the foundation has on several occasions sponsored students joining Form one. The students come from needy families and were selected by the schools and vetted by the area chiefs. The sponsorship includes school fees (Form 1- 4), uniform, shoes, stationery, and utensils.
The Capwell Foundation also donates Yola Cereal Milk Drink to pupils in about 27 institutions in Kiambu County.
