Chashi Foods

Entrepreneur profile

Prince Chakanyuka (Bsc Medicinal & Biological Chemistry )  and Forget Shareka (MSc Entrepreneurship & Innovation)   

THE IDEA

Chashi Foods produces high quality and 100% natural dried fruits in Zimbabwe, from crops that would otherwise go to waste. The business is centered on working with communities, helping rural farmers reduce food waste and increase their revenue.  

THE CHALLENGES

Launching our business 3 months before the Covid-19 pandemic remains the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced. We faced financial challenges from a slowed down market penetration but also increased demand beyond our capacity for our drying services as many rural farmers struggled with increased food waste during national lockdown.

SUPPORT FROM EDINBURGH INNOVATIONS

Edinburgh Innovations continued to encourage us to see the light beyond the Covid-19 restrictions. They gave us a space to rethink our business model during the Startup Summer Accelerator programme and pivot our business proposition. We have increased our daily drying capacity x5 which means we can now work with more farmers than when we started. This would have taken us at least two years to achieve.

THE FUTURE

We aim to expand the effectiveness and reliability of our supply chain from sourcing raw materials sustainably to saving energy during the production cycle. Ultimately seeing our products crossing export borders and reaching UK consumers will be a dream come true.

Edinburgh Innovations has and continues to be our source of inspiration, offering us advisory services that nurture the development of our business and products - even when the odds may seem to be against us.

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