Buoyed by the meetings with regulatory authorities including Pharmacy and poisons board that also were helpful even though they referred us back to Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) as the main agency we require approval from, we decided to get back to our planned visits.
My First very encouraging and successful meeting as a person was a meeting with Kenya Red Cross Nutritionist who listened to us and were willing to give us a chance. This lady who happened to be my namesake was very articulate, clear and open minded after looking at the Nutritional Values of the products. We agreed on meeting with them after we get the KEBS and MOH (Ministry Of Health) approval then we can have a discussion and identify an area in of their operational locations that we can partner with them and supply our products to affected persons. This is a good start and was one of my best moments as i start this journey. I will update you how this goes. Thank You KRC staff for your support and confidence.
Next stop was a hospital along Ngong Road, (and let me take this opportunity to say that face to face visits brings out the best in both parties unlike phone conversations that have no commitment or personal warmth) and was with noting that it had really expanded compared to the last time i visited in 2002/2003. The nutritionist was a very warm, receptive and attentive lady that gave us all her attention on short notice. With this visit i learnt that the product that they were using CSB felt flat and some of their patients were flatly refusing to take the same. Here we were giving a different option, nice smelling, sweet and already precooked. The pre-cooked part worked well for her as they receive visits from some patients who are very poor and could save on the fuel required as the Philani's needs only water to mix it with then its ready for use.The meeting was fruitful and we left the larger pack samples but agreed to send her samples in 100gms sachets for testing by several patients individually as the larger pack was not convenient. We expect to have these sent to the hospital this coming week as soon as we get them from South Africa.
Another encouraging stop that crowned my first month experience is the last visit on Thursday to another hospital and the response was the same as above. However this went a step ahead and we had one patient who is lactose intolerant try out our product and we will get a response at the end of this coming week from the hospital on efficacy.
It is good to also note at this point that trials on the products have been done successfully in South Africa and several other countries in that region and products approved for use by their national governments for addressing malnutrition and patients with low immunity as immunity booster.
In other developments to build credibility and seriousness i decided to acquire an office in Parklands as most of my target clients value stability, Credibility and part of building the required confidence in us it became necessary. Having worked in Humanitarian Logistics, part of the requirement is that the Procurement or Tender committee should be able to visit and confirm that the supplier they are dealing with has a traceable confirmed location and is duly registered with all authorities. Some people may argue that as a start up you can work from home, from your laptop anywhere there is internet but for my line of business credibility and proof of existence actually goes a long way.
We have been able to produce official business cards that we use during our visits, have an official website (that needs reworking), we have a presence on most social media sites, and with my two Volunteer sisters we are praying for better things in the coming month having worked for 3 months without any pay as we set up and make our presence felt.
Special Thanks to Diva Nutritional Products (http://www.diva.co.za/) and specifically Etienne DuPlessis for the partnership that allows us to be the distributors in East and Central Africa Region and the support in terms of information and product dispatch.
Spread word to all that we are around and are ready to supply Nutrition, health projects both for government and Humanitarian Organizations especially we are currently looking to get orders for the current humanitarian response in South Sudan.
For prices and deliveries call us on +254 20 2306839 or info@bradchelinvetsments.com
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