Agri-business: Fruits and vegetables help 31-year-old find healthy way to riches

An agri-business venture that started out just three years ago as a side hustle has since turned into a profit-making platform for its founder, Peter Wangai.

Golden Escape Limited, a venture that is changing the landscape of fresh food produce in green houses also boasts of over 500 investors and Wangai claims to have paid out Ksh.54 million and this is set to grow as more people join in.

Citizen Digital caught up with the young agri-business entrepreneur as he prepares for an investor payout ceremony and he tells us how the fresh food industry has brought him riches he could only dream about.

Wangai, who came from a humble background moved to Nairobi and saw just how the city has an insatiable need for fresh foods and therein, he saw an opportunity.

“I saw the need for clean foods and my vision has always been mass production of organic food and do away with Genetically Modified Food,” said Wangai.

In his plan, Wangai hoped to help in the growth of a more healthy society and create employment while at it.

Wangai, whose family’s livelihood depended on farming says that his upbringing made his venture easier since he already knew about crops and how to grow and tender them.

The Lower Kabete and Karen based Golden Escape has a variety of foods but has a recorded high in the production of lettuce, capsicum, tomatoes cucumbers and spinach.

“Everyone wants an extra source of income and this has made the agri-business a safe haven,” he says of his venture.

Golden Escape, which has spread its wings to Nyandaru, Kisii and Nyeri boasts of having a trained team of dedicated professionals ranging from agronomists that strive to ensure a bountiful harvest.

While the Wangai-led company was among the first in Kenya to consider investors who don’t have land to invest in, Golden Escape went further and reached out to foreigners who can’t own land in Kenya offering them the opportunity to lease and invest.

According to Wangai, this option cuts costs of buying land leaving one with money to invest in greenhouses.

The company is popular for engaging in the construction of various greenhouses starting with the complex tunnel-greenhouses to simple kitchen greenhouses.

On querying how to survive the erratic weather patterns, the young CEO says that their choice of drip irrigation has proved highly efficient as the plants grow quicker and are more productive.

This, he says is because they have all the water they need and their growth isn’t slowed by water stress all the while sheltered from harsh outside conditions.