Oziegbe
According to Jonathan, there was a noticeable dearth of dried fruit products in Kenya at the time, and the few existing companies were hampered by a lack of attention to their brands, packaging and product quality.
The founders gave their brand the name Sweetunda tunda is fruit in Swahili.
At that time, the country had an excess of mangoes, and farmers were struggling to secure buyers for their produce.
In response to this market inefficiency, Jonathan and Ofelia turned their attention to the mango value chain, deciding to start a fruit drying business.
Burton amp Bamber began its mangodrying venture at a small rented facility in Thika, situated 45km from Nairobi, a town Jonathan refers to as the Birmingham of Kenya due to its large number of factories and good access to target markets.
Jaco Maritz spoke with cofounder, Jonathan Bamber, about the companys journey into supermarket distribution why it is focused on building a local brand as opposed to exports and the challenging aspects of manufacturing within Kenya.
Burton amp Bamber, the company behind the Kenyan dried fruit brand Sweetunda, was founded in 2015 by Britishborn Jonathan Bamber, his wife Sarah, and Ofelia Burton.
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