Show me a cow and I’ll make for it milking jelly, salt lick

Placed under a cool shade of Grevillea robusta trees standing outside Daniel King’ori’s house in Giakanja, Tetu, in Nyeri County is a white powder, which the agro-entrepreneur describes as gold.

“This is salt lick, I have kept it here to dry,” says King’ori as he leads the  Seeds of Gold team into a stone house, which he calls his factory.

The 29-year-old has carved a niche for himself by making dairy salt blocks and milking jelly that he sells to farmers in the county.

Inside the room that he calls his factory, King’ori has spread some raw materials for making the salt lick, which he was mixing on a canvas before he stopped to receive us.

“I am yet to get a mixer but I am working on it. Still, business must go on,” he says.

King’ori started the agribusiness a year ago, some seven years after completing a diploma in electrical engineering at the Nyandarua Institute of Science and Technology.

He then started job-hunting, but in vain.

“I started manufacturing bar soap but the enterprise did not take off well due to financial constraints and unavailability of raw materials. I picked the lesson on making soap from the internet since I wanted to engage in a do-it-yourself venture,” he states.

After winding up the soap business, he researched on a venture he could do with ease and landed on making salt lick.

“This time round I also consulted a veterinarian in the manufacturing industry and realised there was a gap in the market. The gap was in making plant-based salt licks,” he narrates, noting he put Sh75,000 into the business.

To make the salt, he mixes supplements manually. He uses soya, groundnut, Epsom salt, dry yeast and dairy premix, which he sources from Nyeri and Thika.

King'ori manufactures milking jelly using micro-wax and white oil, which he sells at Sh25, noting that it helps in preventing mastitis.

He manufactures the products under the name Buyerman Industries – his company. 

“I make four salt products namely G1 dairy cow, G1 dry lick, G1 super heat and G1 nyama.”

SERVE SPECIFIC PURPOSES

For now, he packages the products in 2kg packs that he sells at Sh200 each, but he says he is working on 5kg and 10kg for farmers with a bigger herd.

The four products, according to him, serve a specific purpose depending on the farmers’ preference.

“The G1 dairy cow increases milk production, boosts the general health of the animal, ensures they go on heat at the right time and is high in calcium,” he explains

On the other hand, the G1 dry lick reduces milk fever in animals that are almost calving and is high in calcium while the G1 super heat is to ensure a cow specifically goes on heat and the G1 nyama is mostly fed to bulls for fattening or boosting and hastening growth for weak animals.

King’ori, who has two workers, traverses the county selling his products using a motorbike, mainly relying on referrals to sell them.

“The demand is so high currently that I cannot satiate the market. The sales keep improving.”

As his business grows, he says his sight is trained on producing animal feeds that are plant-based.

“I have applied for the registration of my products with the Kenya Bureau of Standards and I am currently waiting for the final certificate. 

He packs the products in plastic bags that he sources from Industrial Area in Nairobi. 

Dr Miheso Mulembani, the secretary-general of the Union of Veterinary Practitioners in Kenya, says before one ventures into production of plant-based mineral salts, they should visit a veterinary medicine department to be guided on what to fulfill.

“The plant-based products are helpful in ensuring that animals increase production and growth rate depending on the target. While indulging in such business, one should conduct a market research to inform business decisions.”

Sunflower, soya and cotton seed cake are high in protein and should take the lion’s share in the mixture, offers Dr Miheso.

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Process

Having products certified by Kebs

• Once you're done with the processing and are satisfied with the product, one takes it to the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs)
• One the pays Sh5,800 for the product to be tested.
• It is then transported to Nairobinif one is outside for testing and one waits for the results in two weeks.
• Kebs officers then visit the agribusiness premises to examine the processing procedures.
• And when one passes all the tests, they are awarded the certification
• It has taken the farmer two months for Kebs to certify his business.