By Antynet Ford

Two young entrepreneurs are turning maize, millet, soybeans and sweet potatoes sourced from smallholder farmers into high-nutrition instant porridge flour, targeting time-conscious urban consumers with meals that can be made in minutes.

Showcasing their products during the AFMASS Food Expo for Kenya and East Africa at Sarit Centre in July, Elvis Kukubo, one of the founders of Ryan’s Ujimix, said they spotted a gap in the market for a nutritious convenience food in 2024, and ventured into the agribusiness start up.

Now based inside the Kenya Industrial Research Development Institute (KIRDI) in South C where they use their specialised milling machines, “we wanted to offer a solution to busy professions and students who have little or no time but value nutritious meals and love porridge,” said Elvis.

“We use yellow, nearly orange sweet potatoes, millet, maize and soya beans, which we all get from smallholder farmers, paying according to the market rate trend. When there is no farmer with what we want, we just set out to the Marikiti market and get the products there for the processing.”

“We are yet to get to the level of huge productions, but we are aiming that as we target to contract 300 farmers to supply soon,” he said.

“After the grains and the sweet potato are brought to the centre, we do the cleaning and ensure that we dry it properly. After that we use the normal mills to grind them all together before we now start the process of cooking, done at high temperatures,” Elvis said. The puffed product, after cooking at 250 degrees Celsius, is then milled into flour ready for consumption.

“When you taste the porridge you can feel the original taste of everything with the soya being its main taste.”

“To prepare the meal at home, you put three spoons of the floor into a cup or mug then mix with hot water. You can also use milk if you want. Then stir the mixture properly then add sugar as you stir until you get the desired level. If you want it hotter, after doing the mix, you can heat it in a microwave or on your cooking gas and you are good to go,” he said.

“If you want it sour, you can add lemon.”

Demonstrating the mixing, Elvis pointed out: “As we were mixing, you noticed that there were no lumps. That is achieved by ensuring the particles of the flour are of the right size during the milling and easily mix with water.”

Achieving this consistency of texture and taste was one of the founders’ biggest challenges, especially when their finances were tight and they needed to experiment repeatedly to design a food that was affordable to everyone in Nairobi and made a tasty instant porridge.

“The first few months were on testing blends, trying to adjust the temperatures, balancing the ratio of every ingredient while still refining the recipe. It all required some great input,” said Ellis.

Securing the suppliers for the ingredients has also required extra attention to get good quality.

But their efforts have paid off. Retailing at between Sh150 and Sh200 a packet, their porridge is now being stocked by 46 retailers in and around Nairobi, and they have sold over 40,000 packs.

As they now look to spread across the country, they continue to market intensely.

“Through exhibitions we have got consumers understanding the convenience of having instant porridge flour. We listen to them keenly and are able to adjust to the suggestions they make to us accordingly.”

They are also strong on social media, across TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn “where we get several orders on a weekly basis,” said Elvis.

Next, they hope to launch fortified flours and snacks.

“We want to get to a place where various households can see the convenience of traditional food still being authentic with innovations, even as we produce nutritious meals.”