How Kirtesh Shah’s simple mill grew into mega animal feeds empire

Kirtesh Shah explains how the machines works at Sigma Feeds in Ongata Rongai on Oct. 16, 2015. [PHOTO:DENNIS OKEYO/STANDARD]

It all started in 1978 when Kirtesh Shah was working in a small feed mill. Without experience, he was a quick learner and over the next couple of years he mastered the art of animal feed manufacturing.

Six years later, he branched out on his own to test the waters and started small like many entrepreneurs. Now, he is an established animal feed manufacturer running a mega animal feed plant — Sigma Feeds Ltd located in Tuala, Ongata Rongai. Mr Shah shares with Smart Harvest his journey into a field not many have the courage to explore.

“It has not been a walk in the park. It has taken a lot of hard work, resilience and determination to put up this establishment. What has helped me is that I am a very keen observer and so I was able to pick out a lot from my previous job. I implemented everything to the letter,” he says.

In 1984, using his savings, Shah started his own feed manufacturing business at Ideal Farm, Bogani Road, Karen. He started with a small Posho Mill and a mixer which produced one tonne of animal feeds an hour with a team of four workers.

Presidential award

Thanks to his aggressiveness, Shah, a Form Four leaver, secured a market in the neighbouring environs.

“My first clients were farmers in the neigbourhood. They saw how their animals thrived after feeding on my products and kept coming back,” he says. To improve on his craft, he invested in latest technology.

In 1987, he bought a cutting-edge technology to extrude full fat soya. At the same time he developed a product known as unimix which was designed for human consumption, this product was used as a relief food to feed malnourished children across Kenya.

In 1992, the company’s demand for animal feed increased significantly and Mr Shah invested in new machine that could produce a minimum of ten tonnes of animal feed an hour.

“I am humbled at how this establishment has grown from a simple mill to a mega animal plant that has created jobs for hundreds of youth,” he says with humility.

In line with his vision of investing in the latest technology, Shah invested in a state-of-the-art pelleting plant from Denmark.

Given that the establishment has grown tremendously, the proprietor says his focus is now research and development borrowing ideas from best practices in the west.

Another area of focus for this empire is innovation. The plant has developed one of a kind cubed products for livestock.

“I can say with confidence that this is the first cubed feed for livestock in Kenya. We came up with this invention in 2008 when the country was facing a severe drought and there was a shortage of animal feed. I developed drought tolerant feed which I branded ‘Range Cubes’, which was fed to over four to five million animals in hard hit areas in Kajiado, Marsabit, Narok and Isiolo counties,” he reveals.

For his efforts, then President Mwai Kibaki, accorded him a presidential award.

In 2013, he also received a State commendation award from President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Shah says it has not been an easy ride up the ladder. In 2010 during the Easter weekend, his empire was destroyed by hooligans hired by his detractors.

“Apparently, the land I was occupying had acquired new land owners. So without giving me a notice, the new occupants hired goons to kick me out. The same group had been handed a court order barring them from doing anything, however the people involved believed they were above the law and broke down Sigma Feeds Ltd,” he recalls the painful episode.

But he has since recovered and moved on. Another challenge they face is all the time is getting a flow of raw materials since most of it is imported from neighbouring countries. That aside, the sky is the limit.

Quality feeds

In April 2014, he opened a new plant in Oloosirkon, Ongata Rongai.

“In this new plant, we will manufacture the best quality pet foods at a significantly cheaper price compared to our international competitors,” says Viral Shah, Head of Marketing.

He says Sigma Feeds Ltd aims to provide farmers with the best quality products at affordable prices, which makes them more competitive.

“Here at Sigma Feeds Ltd, we have the largest portfolio in our industry where we manufacture feeds for all animals, from mice to elephants. Our portfolio includes feeds for cattle, chicken, pigs, horses, dogs, rabbits, fish, giraffes and elephants.

He says the feeds are formulated and designed to improve productivity and animal health.

Safety standards

World-class controls are used to monitor automated batching, pelleting and packaging systems in line with international safety standards.

While testing of all incoming inputs is done in their own in-house laboratories before they are sent to the market, Sigma products also go through a practical testing phase in their own dairy and poultry farms in Ole-Ngishu Farm.

John Momanyi, head of sales and marketing pet food division says their state-of-the-art feed milling technology reduces and eliminates bacteria in feed and enhances digestibility of feed concentration.

High yield broiler starter crumbs, he says, are carefully formulated to provide all the nutrients requirements for the modern broiler chick for rapid growth.

“The broiler crumbs contains high level of protein and energy together with full complement of amino acids, vitamins and mineral required for good muscle formation and skeleton framework in the early part of growth.”

He continues: “Farmers can raise broilers and achieve required weights within 35 days as a result of our feeds. We are saving a farmer a whole week of feeding,” he explains.

He also speaks highly of how they undertake their processes.

“We use first grade maize in the formulation of our broiler feeds and the production team led by nutritionists are also keen on where they source the raw materials from,” he says.

Momanyi points out that the dairy range include calf pellets, young stock pencils and range meal/cubes.

“Our most superior product ‘high yield dairy meal’ and in line with being innovative, we have ‘high yield dairy cubes’. We are shifting farmers from the usual dairy feeds and to try and adapt to the new technology of using dairy cubes because they are highly nutritious for livestock,” he says.

Floating fish pellets

As a way of giving back to the society, Sigma Feeds also trains farmers on livestock best practice.

“We don’t only manufacture feeds, we also teach farmers on ways to become more productive and how to increase their profits. We also tell them about the latest trends and innovations in the animal feed world,” he explains.

Currently the company has two major pet food brands— Fido semi Cooked Dog Food and Scooby Dog rice, each consisting of a balanced diet.

By March 2016, Sigma Feeds will be launching the most advanced locally manufactured pet food diets which will be cooked and mixed with exotic flavours.

Shah says Sigma Feeds Ltd was the first company in Kenya to venture into fish feed manufacturing and to boost their production capacity, they partnered with the government in the Economic Stimulus Programme.

Shah further reveals that they were the sole suppliers of fish food in various counties, and are also the only manufacturers of floating fish pellets.

 

“The beauty of our projects is that we work very closely with farmers so that we can come up with products so that we factor in their specific needs. We are not out to make money from farmers, ours is to empower them to be better farmers and to get maximum yield from their ventures. We also advise farmers on the existing markets. We regularly do our own research and advise them on where they can find markets for their products. For poultry farmers, we also do contract farming where the farmer will buy the chicks and buy the feeds from us and we will provide them the market. This gives the farmer confidence to invest in the business,” Shah says.

Major challenge

One of the major challenge facing the farmers, he pointed out, is lack of finances to expand their projects.

But Momanyi says Sigma has strategic partnerships and always direct farmers on financial institutions where they can get loans.

Finally, he calls upon the government to remove Value Added Tax on the inputs used in the manufacture of animal feeds so that in return the costs of feeds can be reduced.