Nakayenga Regina

Founder and Managing Director

Masters in Business Administration

RENA Beverage Solutions Ltd is an agro processing company established in 2011 and registered in 2012. It is located in Kireka, Kira Municipality, Wakiso District, Uganda. We make 13 products from Hibiscus, fruits and other plants (okra seeds, rosemary, peach palm seeds, and fruits) because of their natural nutritional and medicinal values.

PROBLEM

Diet is the biggest modifiable risk factor for chronic disease yet only 12% of Ugandans eat WHO’s recommended 400 grams of fruit & vegetables daily. In addition, over 20% of fruit is considered inedible, for example 70% of the passion fruit is the peel and seeds and for every 1 kg of hibiscus calyx used for juice production, we have 1kg of hibiscus seed that is commonly unutilised. These unused fruit and hibiscus by products contribute to nutrient and phenolic compound loss that would have contributed to health promotion if consumed by humans.

SOLUTION

There is an opportunity to develop palatable food ingredients from 90% of Rena’s processing byproducts of passion fruit peel, seeds and hibiscus seed.

Utilizing bio-active compound rich fruit byproducts like passion peels to make functional tea products. For example; Passion fruit peels which are residues of fruit juice processing contain phyto-chemicals and pectins associated with improved lipid profile and blood glucose control following use of passion fruit rind flour in diet according to a study by Barbalho,S in 2012. Improved blood glucose control reduces complications and deaths associated with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Since 70% of premature deaths associated with NCDs are in developing countries, the solution is scalable to other developing countries as the number of health conscious individuals will increase. .

CLIENTS

• Overall our direct consumer is the Health conscious individuals, persons with lifestyle diseases and parents seeking proper nutrition for their children. Business to Business; we supply supermarkets , pharmacies , school canteens and retailers. Biggest B2B are Carrefour , Capital shoppers, Jumia, Kikubo online and megha standard. However; our hibiscus and fruit wine products are for a different niche for example events and bars.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Diversified product range of 13 items, UNBS Quality Certification, Acquisition of Tea Bag Packaging Machine, Employment for youth, Supporting farmer groups with hibiscus farming training, solar drier and simple harvesting tools, Prototype of Hibiscus Harvester Machinery and Moderate growth in revenue over the 10 years of business and Tax compliant. Rena has also offered training to small scale startups mainly in product development and quality certification.