Nigeria’s Kennie-O Cold Chain Logistics emerges SUN Africa’s nutrition winner
Nigeria’s Kennie-O Cold Chain Logistics has emerged at the winner of the Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) agri- pitch competition at the first Nutrition Investors Forum in Nairobi, Kenya.
Kennie-O Cold Chain Logistics beat other 20 finalists to win the award with its logistics business idea that has a positive impact on tackling malnutrition in Nigeria.
“This award gladdens my heart because it is as a result of hard work and would help Nigeria reduce its postharvest losses,” Ope Olanrewaju, chief executive officer, Kennie-O Cold Chain Logistics, said during the presentation of the award.
“Logistics is a big problem in Nigeria and we believe that this award will help us provide more solution to Nigeria’s malnutrition challenges as it will ensure consumers get their food fresh without losing its nutritional values,” Olanrewaju said.
Olanrewaju explained that his business has a park house that stores fresh fruits and vegetables using refrigerated cold room facilities.
The business started in Ilorin, Kwara State in 2014, after Olanrewaju failed in his poultry business.
Olanrewaju will get a technical support worth $15,000 . He will also be representing Africa next year in Bangkok, Thailand, as the continent’s Nutrition Ambassador.
Also, Oluwatoyin Onigbangbo, founder of August Secrets, a start-up that produces baby food using local recipes, another Nigerian business, emerged winner of the Graca Machel Trust Award worth $10,000 technical support for nutrition.
“I feel very excited and validated that what we are doing in Nigeria regarding nutrition and using social media to push our products is being recognised here today,” said Onigbangbo.
Uduak Igbeka, senior associate and team lead, S UN Business Network, told BusinessDay on the slide-lines of the event that the emergency of two Nigerian businesses, as winners of the SUN Business Awards, will further impact the fight against malnutrition in the country.
“I am ecstatic that we have two winners here today. This is a win for Nigeria,” Igbeka said.
“These two businesses are already making impact and would further make more impact to the malnutrition fight with the technical support and training they would be getting as well as financial support to scale-up,” she added.
Other winners are Neema Lugangira, founder, Healthy Maisha of Tanzania who won the Bop Innovation Centre Award; Dennis Marangu, founder of Kulamawe Poultry Industries Limited of Kenya who won the Growth Africa Award; and Abdul Cauio, founder of Mikuru Agro Industria of Mozambique won the DSM Award.
A total of 500 nutrition businesses entered for the award and 21 of them emerged as finalists representing different regions on the continent.
Nigeria’s Soupah, August Secrets, Kennie-O Cold Chain Logistics, Grandios Pap and Vege Victory were among the 21 finalists.
Josephine Okojie, Nairobi