Sasini tea and coffee company of the Sameer family group of companies founded by successful tycoon and business entrepreneur Naushad Merali is launching a bold and daring venture into not just the less crowded but nascent competitive local market but also the more crowded and equally competitive big boy league international beverage consumption market with the launch of its inaugral Kenyan branded Savannah coffee lounges in Nairobi first, followed by Dubai and London
And they are not thinking microscopic either-according to none other than the son of Merali himself who is one of the directors of the Kenyan company, by this foray the company is signalling its global intention to market brand Kenya to the rest of the world
hear him speak "we do not have to sell Kenya abroad; the problem is that Kenyans are not taking advantage of the existing awareness and goodwill about Kenyan produce"
I hold no brief for Merali or his Sameer group of companies but what a fresh change of direction displayed in straight thinking by a company that like many many other Kenyan businesses both well established and emerging are now beginning to move away from old school thinking that an investor is anyone foreign with skin colour to match and increasingly beginning to realize we can't market Kenya to anyone if we at home fail to be attracted by the quality of the made in Kenya brand
Its true that for many years, lack of inspiring political direction made us consider both ourselves and our country as a brand unable to equal international standards in quality and rank; it seems we build better roads only when the people for whom they are being built promise to come from across the Atlantic to throw some scraps of employment our way. Otherwise what need does Onyango or Wambui have for thousands of square kilometres of paved and tarmacked asphalt on the highway?
Even more than politics, we badly require an attitude change amongst us so that our thinking will come in line with national (not ethnic) values and not revert back to revelling in nostalgia and gaining fame and notoriety for all the wrong shameful reasons-corruption, tribalism, comical political leadership and the stigma attached to all of these deadly sins. There is a lesson hidden somewhere there for our politicians and the new administration of Government come 2008. new thinking, new direction, no excuses
I wish Savannah coffee lounges all the best success in marketing brand Kenya-look out for a local Savannah lounge coming to a city near you
Kenya iendelee mbele!
IT'S INTEGRITY NOT THE ECONOMY STUPID
KTDA also has plans to roll out 'Tea cafes' like Java
ReplyDeleteLet's hope the tea will be AFFORDABLE to all Wanjikus and mama mbogas out there. Savanna can learn alot from Equity Bank. Establish an affordable service, open branches in places like River Road, Murang'a, Voi etc and you will be very successful and make billions. What i mean is..swallow ya pride!
ReplyDeleteYou are right Bw Luka. It is called THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX. But how many have what it takes? Well you better judge for yourself because all I know is that we are CHOCKING inside the box. Kenya is ripe for a leap all that is lacking is an HONEST/ASTUTE driver. Anyone out there to take the keys for MV Kenya?
ReplyDeleteI'm very confident that the Sameer group can pull this off.
ReplyDeleteKTDA.....they should employ me!
Yes Luke you have always gotten it right. More than anything else we need to change our way of thinking and of doing things and eventually the attitude. They say attitude is everything. We may try to change the look of things politically but in the end if our thinking still lags behind its all zero work. There is a lot we can learn from many of the business owners ... they might show us another way of doing politics.
ReplyDeleteDEMOCRACY ODM STYLE
ReplyDeleteSo this is the ODM ‘democracy’ and ‘change’ we have been promised?
Well, tell me how it tastes!
In Western, almost all the winners were declared losers and certificates issued to losers! Hamisi,Khwesero,Lugari,Butula,and others. Raila has just handed to Kibaki another ten percent or more of voters here.
In Nairobi, only Margaret Wanjiru was allowed as a Kikuyu lady, to be on ODM. Tony Gachoka? Being a Kikuyu, no way.
In Kasarani, the beautiful and very popular Recho Shebesh was winning and so the election was sculled and she was replaced by the politically correct Luo-. Never mind that the cosmopolitan Recho Shebesh is married to a Luhya and was a staunch Raila supporter when Raila was way down in the polls and no one gave him a chance.
In Dagoretti, poor John Kiarie! Badly beaten up at Orange House as the bosses watched. Serves you right Kikuyu.
In Makadara Dan Shibanda had the bad luck of trouncing Reuben Ndolo, a Raila right hand man. As Raila and his people have always said, the Luhya are a ‘stepping stone’ and should not aspire to real leadership. Well, Shikanda, popular as he is must now go back and support the real man there, Ndolo.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the face of what an ODM government would be!
Compare this to PNU where Kibaki has refused to raise a finger. See the diplomatic manner in which disputes have been resolved.
As for ODM, we have clear images of:
1. The heavy violence in Nyanza, (confirming the usual popular perception)
2. The lady on the newspaper front page being lifted violently.
3. The shocking fight in Westlands caught on camera.
Fortunately, many Kenyans now know what type of leadership to vote in on Dec.27th!
Kudos to Savannah. I'm yet to grace the premises but from what I saw in the newspapers yesterday they looked like quite an outfit.
ReplyDeleteIn any case it's a very daring move to open in Dubai (the palm islands) and London. The brave & daring always succeed.
My first instinct however is why they didn't open a Tea Shop rather than coffee. I know them more for tea than coffee.
I await KTDA Tea Cafes with anticipation and as anon commented, they should learn from Equity & open in the grassroots & lower parts of town.
I hear the KTDA place were called the T-Spot or something like that....and will be at Chai House on Koinanage Street (where the Nando's used to be) I saw renovations when I passed by this morning... Being a tea person I wait to see what they will come up with. On a positive note, it is good to see Kenyan brands coming up, it can only be a good thing for the market....
ReplyDelete