African Woman and Child Feature Service

Entrepreneur dares to tread only where men walk

It is not always that one will find a woman running a major industry as an entrepreneur. Women are known for going for small businesses that require minimum capital as they lack access to credit and loan facilities.

This has been a limiting factor that has seen major industries dominated by men and women hanging outside the loop of major entrepreneurship.

Untrodden path

There are certain industries that have been termed as the most lucrative. These include those like the alcohol sector that has been treated with awe by both the mighty and rich.

However, with hope and determination one woman, was unable to resist the temptation to make the money. She dared step into the jungle, where only the brave and bold tread. In other words she dared to fly into the space where only ‘eagles’ dare.

It was not an easy flight to reach where she is today. In the process, she had to fight powerful politicians and multinationals involved in the beer market. With a strong will, that only a woman can have, she was not going to give up.

When they pulled her down, the act only made her strong and eventually she ended up where no woman in Kenya has ever been. Today she is the first woman entrepreneur to own a beer brewer.

At only 46 years, Tabitha Mukami Muigai Karanja is chief executive officer of Keroche Breweries, the first ever beer factory to be owned by a Kenyan.

Hers is a story of pain, anger, threats, intimidation, determination and prayers that have seen her emerge as one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in the country.

The beginning

Her husband, Mr Joseph Karanja owned a hardware shop in Naivasha but decided to move into alcohol trade in early 1990s. He left the shop and moved to a small brewery just next to the current Keroche Breweries where with skeleton staff, he engaged in the fortified wine business. And as the demand for their product picked up, Tabitha joined the husband and has never regretted since then.

“Things were real hard during the time as we were been fought from all corners of the country but this did not discourage us,” she says.

In her efforts to establish the business, she has been reduced to tears as powerful individuals both in and out of government fought her using all manner crude methods and schemes.

Some misguided politicians have gone out publicly to urge members of the public to ignore her products.

Powerful government departments knocked on her door demanding over KSh1 billion as bribe. They even went to the extent of closing down the beer business.

Challenges

“The most difficult time was in 2003 when over ten depots in Central Province were raided by the provincial administration,” reveals Karanja.

At the time, she almost gave up as many forces including politicians and provincial administration conspired to bring down her emerging business.

But when she thought of her dreams crumbling down, Karanja would get renewed energy and this motivated and made her stronger.

She cannot count the number of times she walked along the corridors of justice in a bid to protect her business from competitors who were threatened by her daring to tread where only men do.

Karanja was scared but her resolve to see her aspirations come to fruition kept her going. She watched her business grow from a small three roomed factory with five employees to a state of the art brewery employing hundreds of Kenyans. This is all summed up by her motto, “Truly Kenyan”.

According to Karanja, the journey has been rough and turbulent since 1997 when she ventured into the wine industry.

“For over 12 years, I fought a lone battle with giant multinationals in the fortified wines’ industry,” she says.

She had by and large penetrated the local market until 2007 when an unexplained tax raise forced her out of the wine business.

“The Minister for Finance introduced punitive taxes for fortified wines and we had to move to brandy, gin and vodkas,” she explains.

One not to be intimidated by the new directives, she decided to take the bull by the horn, by announcing that Keroche Breweries was going into beer making.

Determination

On October 24, 2008, Keroche Breweries launched Summit Lager in a ceremony graced by none other than the Prime Minister Raila Odinga. “After much pain and sleepless nights, my dream had been achieved. This was the best day in my life,” she says.

What Keroche Industries did was to give Kenyans a choice in the beer market after years of market dominance by a single multi-national.

“For the first time in 87 years, Kenyans have a choice in the beer market,” she says. Karanja hopes to attract between 25 and 35 per cent of the beer market countrywide given a level playing ground.

The Naivasha-based brewery initially employed 100 people, with hundreds more being engaged in the company’s distribution network.

Keroche, which initially specialised in making fortified wines, already has a national network of distributors and retailers, which she says will strengthen with the launch of the beers.

Karanja terms the journey as rough and full of obstacles, but is confident that all will go well as the Summit beer has already been accepted in the market while the Summit Malt is slowly picking up.

Investment

The company invested KSh1 billion, a loan from local banks in the new plant built by Italian and Germany engineers. The new brewery has a capacity of 6,000 half-litre bottles per hour.

The business was lucrative and through the earnings and bank loans, they managed to expand their production. The hardest part was when they decided to move into the beer market and required the one billion shillings to construct the brewery.

“We had a hard time looking for a financier as many thought we could not compete with the multi-nationals but one bank believed in us and advanced us the amount,” says Karanja.

Today it is a totally different story. “We are pleased by how the beer is performing and I want to thank Kenyans for the support and confidence that they have given us,” notes Karanja. She reiterates: “This is the first beer brewed by a Kenyan investor and I want to assure our consumers that this is the best product they will ever receive.”

Karanja, says despite the challenges she has faced, the coalition government has been supportive of the local initiative unlike the past when she had sleepless nights over harassment by government officials.

Women find engaging in large-scale businesses a challenge. However, a word of advice from Karanja who has been there is one that would propel many women to the heights of business conglomerates.

Her message to fellow women who shy from competing with men folk is that they can make it and even be role models to many. “This is the 21st century and what a man can do a woman can do. It’s time we showed them through action,” Karanja says.

She says: “Despite all the challenges my dream is to extend beyond beer and have a soft drinks company. Maybe then I will have achieved my life’s dreams.”

What about competition from multinationals or elaborate entrepreneurs who one can hardly compete with?

Support

“We do not have the kind of money that our competitors have but this will not deter us from serving our consumers with the best beer ever,” she reiterates.

Karanja is full is full of praise for her husband, Mr Joseph Karanja who is also the chairman Keroche Industries. Her husband not only plays a crucial role in the business management, but is also her best friend.

“Whenever I am down, he is there to lift me up. I have a shoulder to lean on as he is always there to guide me. I owe him a lot,” she confesses.

A mother of two boys and two girls, Karanja always has time for the family despite her busy schedule.

She says that in most cases, dinners are shared and birthdays are marked in a special way as ‘family is the best thing in her busy schedule’. Her advice to fellow women it to be strong and not to shy off from their dreams as nothing is impossible.

“I knew what I wanted in life and I worked day and night to achieve it and here I am.”