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Justin Gachoki displays packaged banana wine at the Central Kenya National Show in Nyeri plus other value-added products from banana and pineapple produce. PHOTO: MUCHIRI NDIRANGU
At the just-ended Central Kenya National Show in Nyeri, Justine Gachoki was a crowd puller in the predominant farming region because of his innovations in value addition to the basic food crops grown by farmers.
Gachoki, like many other farmers, has for many years been involved in banana farming and sold the fruits while green or let them ripen before selling them.
This only earned the Kirinyaga County farmer between Sh15 to Sh20 per a kilo of the fruit, which was very low and could hardly cater even for the cost of production. But today, the farmer earns more than ten times what he earned then by adding value to his banana harvest.
This was after the realization that he could make banana wine, crisps, cakes, doughnuts and flour among other products from bananas which fetch him better prices in the market.
But it is through venturing in mass production of banana wine that he expects to make a fortune.
Three kilos of bananas can make a liter of wine with a liter going for over Sh650 while a kilo of green bananas can only fetch Sh20 per kilo in the market.
“Through value addition, I am able to make over Sh8,000 from a 40 kilos batch of bananas which earlier earned me a mare Sh800,” he says.
He was exhibiting the products during this year’s Central Kenya National Show at Kabiru-ini in Nyeri town.
The 52-year-old Gachoki says he was inspired to venture in banana wine brewing after visiting Kisii County and realized that farmers were far much ahead in bananas value addition.
Many groups in the county were engaged in the preparation of wine and other banana products and minted millions of shillings through the initiative.
“Farmers in Kisii are far much ahead of us in value addition and I could see groups engaged in adding value to bananas by making banana crisps, wine, doughnuts and I got interested in making wine,” he says.
Upon his return to Kirinyaga, he underwent training by Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI) which prepared him for the venture. He started making wine in January 2017 after the training.
To prepare wine, he ensures that the bananas to be used are mature. He prefers using the Giant Cavendish variety which he says is the best.
After harvesting, he thoroughly washes the bananas; leave them to dry before putting them in the ripening chamber where it is left for about four days.
“I then wash the ripe bananas once again, peel, then blend them and add blended pineapple juice at the ratio of 2: 1 into the container leaving the mixture for a week,” he explains.
The pineapple is meant to improve taste and aroma, he adds.
After a week, he adds some enzyme to catalyze the fermentation process and the wine is fully fermented in a month or two, sieved and ready for consumption.
His wine has an alcoholic content of eight percent.
He is in the process of having the product certified by Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and maybe in supermarkets shelves and other outlets by August next year.
He plans to start packaging it in various sizes of bottles complete with KEBS seals ready for the market.
Currently, he packages them in 300-milliliter bottles which he sells locally.
His wine, he says, has no chemicals or other additives and is purely natural, making it different from the many wines and spirits brewed by unscrupulous business people who lace them with deadly chemicals for quick cash, he says.
He grows the bananas for raw materials on his farm and also buys more from local farmers at Sh15 per kilo.
The father of two says the major challenge is lack of finances and with support, he says, he will be able to venture into mass production of wine.
Farmers and himself are happy that they will be in a position to bypass banana brokers who determine prices of raw bananas in the market and buy the produce at throwaway prices.
This will greatly help them maximize profits from the produce.
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The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization
with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper print operations,
television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The Standard Group
is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in
matters of national and international interest.
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