This article will take you through the nitty-gritty of starting a bakery business in Kenya, and how you can turn your baking passion into full-fledged bakery business.
A bakery is a very
profitable business that one can start from the comfort of their home. It is
one of the best
businesses to start in Kenya today. However, it needs passion, hard
work, expertise, and determination in order to succeed. You must ensure
that you have the right equipment before you begin to operate.
I recently wanted to
venture into the bakery business but didn’t have the capital needed to operate
a proper bakery. That got me thinking in the line of starting from my house. I
realized I could use my cooker to bake some bread for my neighborhood then move
to other baked products.
It is this passion
that led me to do more research on the subject of starting a bakery business in
Kenya. Here are my findings on the same;
Licensing your bakery business in Kenya
For you to operate a
successful bakery business in Kenya, you need to have the right registration
certificates. You can register your bakery either as a company or as a small
business. Come up with a name for your bakery then register it at a cost of
approximately Ksh. 1000/-. At this point, you can decide to get the business
registration permit from your county council offices ((or Citizen), the price
will vary from county to county. You also need a food handlers certificate
which will cost you Ksh.600/-. The next would be the food hygiene certificate
which is renewable yearly. The cost of the food hygiene certificate varies
depending on the size of your business but starts as low as Ksh.300/-.
However, my advice
would be that you start operating your small bakery from home then move to a
business premise once you have enough clientele. You could start baking for
your friends and neighbors before moving to the general public. This way you’ll
be moving into your bakery premise with a ton of knowledge and experience,
hence lowering your risks of a business closure.
To sum it up, you’ll
need the following certifications to run a bakery business in Kenya;
- Business registration- Ksh. 8,000-10,000/-
or more depending on your county
- Company name registration- Ksh. 1,000/-
- Company registration(optional)- Ksh. 30,000/-
- Food handlers certificate- Ksh. 600/-
- Food hygiene certificate- Ksh. 300/-
- Fire and safety certificate- Ksh. 3,000/-
- KEBS certification- Ksh.20,000/-
The establishment
The size of your
bakery will depend on the type of equipment that you have. You really do not
need a lot of sophisticated equipment for a start. Just get the basic equipment
then you can buy the rest as your business grows.
Equipment and their
cost. These are the basic
equipment you will need for your bakery and the approximate price for each;
- Electric oven- Ksh. 32,000/-
- Electric hand mixer- Ksh. 1800/-
- Cake baking tins- Ksh.1000/- to Ksh.2000/-
- Bread baking tins- Ksh. 300/- each
- Cake nozzle set- 1200/-
- Cake Icing Spatula- 500/-
- Cake decorating turntable- 1500/-
- Miscellaneous- Ksh. 3000/-
Recipe. Your recipes will depend on the type of bakery
that you want to operate. For example; you could start a bread-baking business
or a cake-baking business. They really don’t need to be unique. Just play
around with the well-known recipes to come up with something that is original
and unique to your bakery.
These are some of the
ingredients that you will need for your bakery;
- Bakers flour (50kg)- Ksh. 3,000/-
- Sugar (50kg)- approximately Ksh. 5,500/-
- Croma- Ksh. 2000/-
- Icing sugar- Ksh 100/- per 100grams
- Tray of eggs- Ksh. 350/-
- Carton of milk- Ksh. 600/-
Marketing Your Bakery Business
Friends and family
make a great choice for first clients. Bakery products are things that can be
consumed on a daily basis. They make part of the fast-moving consumer goods
sector in Kenya. Therefore, engaging your friends, neighbors, and family is a
great way to kick start your business. You could bake a free birthday cake for
a friend’s child or bake some free bread for charity. These will give you some
good referrals for your growing business.
Conclusion
A bakery is a very
profitable business to start in Kenya. It needs a lot of expertise and
equipment but the profits are worth taking the challenge. You will need
approximately Ksh.100,000/- to start if you are buying things from scratch. The
good thing is that even with that huge investment, you can comfortably make
Ksh. 3000/- to Ksh. 5000/- daily from your bakery business. Just do proper
research to know what the people in your area love and you are good to go.