Winnie Wandimi serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Wimssy Limited, a company specializing in the production of dairy products, including fermented milk and yogurt.
Having been raised by farmer parents, she developed a passion for dairy farming during her childhood, particularly due to her affection for cows.
Wandimi expressed that she had a strong conviction about pursuing an investment in the dairy sector at a certain stage in her life.
“I used to love dairy from a young age and as I grew up I knew I would do something in dairy. My parents were farmers so I always loved cows and milk,” she noted.
Later, the businesswoman left her job and established Wimssy Limited, initially beginning on a small scale before expanding.
“We started off with a milk bar, we had a very small room where we would do processing manually. We started thinking of how we can scale it up and buy more milk from farmers,” she noted.
Wandimi elaborated that following the establishment of her milk bar, their products experienced rapid sales, and as demand increased, they were compelled to enhance the value of the milk.
“When we started the milk bar, products were moving very fast and we started doing more products that what we were doing at the time
“As Wimssy we decided that it was time to add the value to the milk because initially we were just dispensing fresh milk,” she stated.
At this juncture, Wandimi expanded her network by bringing in additional farmers to provide her with milk, which she would subsequently package and sell.
Salome Chepkemoi: How this D Student Rose to Become Multi-million Businesswoman
She initially established her company with a workforce of two employees and three farmers.
“Initially we started with two employees and we grew to five employees, and right now we are over 100 employees. The farmer base was about three farmers then and we kept growing, right now we are over 1,000 farmers,” she said.
Wandimi further emphasized that her organization has been assisting farmers in their efforts to produce high-quality milk.
This support encompasses providing training for farmers, supplying animal feed, and facilitating access to government support services.
“We’ve really been supporting our farmers and that’s why we are able to work with more farmers because everyday we have been recruiting new farmers,” she stated.
Reflecting on the past, Wandimi observed that the process of handling and selling even a modest amount of milk required considerable time; however, significant changes have occurred since then.
“When we started, we started with 50 litres and we would even take three days to process and sell that milk but right now, we are able to handle whatever we receive from the farmers,” she said.
The entrepreneur identified insufficient milk supply as the primary obstacle facing the business.
She elaborated that this situation necessitates competition with other firms in the dairy industry for the limited milk resources.
“In the dairy sector, we have a lot of players and this means we are competing for limited milk. You have to make sure that you play your part in ensuring that you keep your farmers happy,” Wandimi stated.
