Makassi is a premium brand of healthy natural fruit juice with a presence in Uganda, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We are looking at expanding to Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania in the coming months.

Makassi, manufactured by Makassi Beverages, is a premium brand of healthy natural fruit juice. 100% juice with no added sugar nor preservatives. One of the highest quality offerings on the African continent. With a presence in Uganda, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Makassi is also looking at expanding to Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania in the coming months. Joshua Stephen Kawanguzi sat down with President Victor Khaukha to speak about the origin of the brand, expansion plans and a variety of topics ranging from manufacturing, financing, the business environment during the pandemic, agriculture among others.

Can you tell us about Makassi and how the idea came about?

Makassi name is derived from Lingala that means strength. One of my partners, in the United States of America (USA), came up with the idea. The vision even before we came up with anything was to see how as we, the children of Africa can come together and work together for a common cause especially relating to business. We wanted to do something great.

Our strength is derived from working together with others, and we wanted to build our business on that fundamental foundation. We had initial discussions in 2014 on how to execute. Energy drinks at the time were on high demand and had a high-profit margin. We agreed to develop an energy drink brand and rolled out at the end of the year.

We developed the brand in Austria and that his how the whole thing started. We worked as hard as possible despite having full-time jobs, school – so, we made some mistakes along the way but we learnt from the journey as well.

What about the market segment provided an opportunity for you to launch?

When coming to Uganda, we targeted the Juice segment. During our research, we came to some informed conclusions. When we were selling energy drinks in the USA, the target market was the small to midsized enterprises as that is where we could compete at the time. What we found in the sector was that energy drinks were good but were just for a specific group of customers. What we realized when it came to juice, was that it was a more universal offering. There was not much advertising for juice as well. Suppliers would bring the juice lay it down and people would buy.

We started looking at the juice and asking ourselves why they were selling. We started researching about juice and found what people were selling was not as healthy. People loved it because it tasted a certain way.  Also, there was a misconception about the general nutrients in the juice that all juice is healthy so I noticed a gap. The opportunity then became, how can we fill the need for a healthier option? That took us to 2017 to seriously considering developing that option. In 2019 we fully launched into the juice segment.

We are only focusing on juice and trying to rebrand on healthy options for now mostly. The goal is to make 100 per cent juice which is the healthiest option. I can confidently tell you; we have the best juice in the African market and I can back-up that claim. The Makassi brand stands out uniquely in terms of quality. Our drive has always been to be the best. What we offer is pure juice with no water or preservatives added. It is pure juice squeezed from fruit.

We do have to educate the market on how to differentiate between healthy and non-healthy options as well as the benefits. Times are changing in Africa especially with the pandemic as people are now slightly cautious about what they put in their bodies, observing work out routines, healthy recipes and they take Makassi because of no added sugar and preservatives, flavours and that is their preferred choice. Not all juice is the same. We will focus on educating people about the different ingredients and why ours is unique and let them decide for themselves. At the end of the day, I want to say our juice is the best on the market and I want people to go and taste it and try for themselves.

Where do you source from the fruits for your products? What do you think is your biggest challenge in regards to the supply chain?

I want to answer this as a futuristic question. Where do we want to source the fruits? Where do we want to be in two to five years?

We want to be able to build the manufacturing process on the African continent. We want to make sure we have local production and sourcing fruits from Uganda. Right now, that has not been possible as we are in the starting phase – so we have to co-manufacture our fruit from Asia. We found a good co-manufacturer in Vietnam who follows our recipe to meet the quality we expect. Two years from now, we want to have local production in some capacity.

Where can we support our farmers? The challenge with coming into Africa is that most of the time you have to start from scratch. You have to develop structures as there are not enough in place. This is where you talk about the supply chain and it goes beyond that. You might have fruits for instance in Uganda but there is no common market for fruits. So, if you want them, you would have to rally farmers to grow some fruits then sensitize them possibly through the Government to say we have a factory being set up for fruits we need farmers to grow. That’s what has been done with sugarcanes.

When going to Uganda, we targeted the Juice segment. When we were selling energy drinks in the USA, the target market was the small to midsized enterprises as that is where we could compete at the time. What we found in the sector was that energy drinks were good but were just for a specific group of customers. 

Other aspects involve incorporating modern farming methods to get high yields. You have to set up a structure from the ground up for agriculture then structure where you get skilled labour. The question there is – are universities bringing up the people you need? Or do you need to train them?. You need a variety of people – mechanical engineers, chemists, nutritionists among others.

Currently, the challenge is making sure that the end consumer understands the difference in the value of what we are bringing to the market. Unfortunately, that is not easy to explain. It will take time to have people understand. By the time you launch a product and go through all the establishment costs. High taxation affects the competitiveness of products. Countries are now supporting local production so taxes on imports are going higher by the day. So, the immediate challenge is how do we bring a product that is of high quality but still price competitive?

What are your primary and secondary market for your products?

Our primary market has to be the people that understand health and conscious about what they consume. Those looking for high quality. There is a misconception that you can never sell something of high quality on the African market. Even in other markets, you will be offered something of low quality because of the tag that you are African as opposed to other nations. Manufacturers too have that stereotype that for Africa, you have to make a lower quality or substandard product because people are not willing to pay for a high-quality product.

Our primary market is targeting people who are willing to make a statement.  Who say we can afford quality; we can pay for it and are tired of the stereotype. We care about our health. More and more individuals are buying to pursue quality on the continent and its time we changed the mindset.

We also target people who are just looking for a good drink. Maybe they take once in a while but want a healthy option. The secondary market maybe consists of those who want a quality offering for let’s say safaris, weddings, office environments & gatherings as well as major airlines. This also includes families with school-age children, mothers who want the best for their children in terms of a healthy product will be excited about our offering.

How do you distribute your product? Do you use e-commerce platforms?

We are all about E-commerce, that is why we pushed to get on Jumia right away. We are very serious about that. We have other E-commerce sites that have contacted us as well. Other channels of distribution include major retail outlets & supermarkets.

Our offering is available in plenty of supermarkets in Uganda – Mega Standard, Senana, Fraine, USave among others. Over 300 retail stores have our product. We are in the final stages of getting listed for Game and Shoprite. We are moving fast reaching across different locations. We are looking to grow our list spontaneously as we launch out experiential marketing.

In your perspective, what is the best way to keep business costs down?

I will tackle manufacturing generally because I have been in it for a long time. In manufacturing, we practice what is termed as continuous improvement.To keep costs down, you look for inefficiencies within your supply chain system or within your equipment. There are always ways to improve. Even a brand like Toyota is always looking at how to be more efficient.

To keep costs down you have to be efficient. As you launch, it might be a little sloppy as you are learning the process. Some curveballs will be thrown at you that you didn’t expect but once you figure those things out the next step is getting efficient.

Unfortunately, some people think it has to do with negotiation skills. That you have to slap the manufactures under for a lower price. When you are talking Business to Business (B2B) mindset in a high-level negotiation, you have to look at what the other person is getting and what you need to get out of it. Does it make sense to you – it is not necessarily about making sure the other person sells to you at no profit and you sell it a higher margin? We are already looking at this as Makassi – we are looking at our supply chain from manufacturing to see how we can improve.

Financing – is one of the key issues for business Where did you get the capital to start up Makassi? And how have you sustained it?

I started looking for funds in 2017. I targeted banks, NGOs, applied to different companies. I had a comprehensive business plan and did everything. I never got funding. I tried banks in Uganda and the US, went to seminars and networking events, places where we could present and meet investors. And we just didn’t catch any breaks. So, what I decided to do was if I truly believed in this idea, I had to make it work. I gathered all the savings I had towards the cause.

Every penny in my name has gone into investing in this business. Then I looked around at who could give me money – family, friends, anyone who could believe in my idea enough to help me fund it. That was my mindset. Once I got through that, I asked how else could I raise money. I am part of a SACCO that is in my community for my church. The SACCO also gave me some funds.

To summarize, I used personal resources, pooled some from family members and SACCO gave me a substantial amount. I am not any special from anyone else.  Anyone with the knowledge and know-how can do what I am doing, especially when you look at how I got my funding. Anyone in Uganda has the same access to SACCOS, savings, friends and family to borrow from. Leveraging those can help you start something from nothing. Where do you belong? Leverage that.

How do you find the regulatory business environment in Uganda? How supportive is it to emerging entrepreneurs? How can it be better?

The challenge in Uganda for entrepreneurs is you do not know what you don’t know. If you came in and made your intention to invest, there is no one going to give you a list that this is what you need and that you can start from “A” and once you have these ten requirements, we do this for you. No one is going to do that for you. You have to figure that out yourself. That is where having the right strategic partners within Uganda can help you.

Because of the people I am working with, I know some things and can learn how Uganda operates and how to navigate the system within all the legal means possible to be successful. Some individuals and organizations have been helpful and some have not been. Some will stand in your way and you have to find a way through them. UNBS was very supportive. You have to navigate through other government bodies – could be URA and others which are not being straight forward as they should be. We found a couple of helpful people who assisted us.

But again you don’t know what you don’t know because let’s say government comes up and says they are planning for an initiative and are giving one trillion for manufacturing to boost investment. If you don’t know how to get to the right person to help you through this, it just won’t happen. The challenging aspect is navigating the bureaucracy of the supply chain. If you learn how to go through it, then your life is better. Again, for every one helpful person, there will probably be five unhelpful people. You have to sieve and sort for beneficial partnerships

Any general tips for startup businesses?

If you have a dream, if you ever thought of yourself as a business person and there is always something you wanted to do, start leaping. I know people who can say, “I have always wanted to go maybe into farming and they can layout a good plan.” And you are genuinely amazed at their idea. But when you ask, why don’t you do it, they will say oh well I need capital or give some other excuse.

My message is that if there is something that you have always wanted to do, go do it because solutions are always out there.

You also have to let people know you are doing it and you will see how supportive people can turn out to be. You will need to surround yourself with positive people. Don’t let a person that has never owned a business, has never taken a risk in their lifetime when it comes to business be the one advising you on how to do or how not to do business. If you want to fly, don’t talk to chicken, talk to an eagle. Seek mentorship as it is key for growth and learning.

Lastly, you have to sacrifice money or time. You have to give in order to gain.

Where should we expect to see Makassi in the next 5-10 years?

Expect to see us in most countries on the African continent within 5 years. Have 100% of manufacturing within Africa in the next 5 to 10 years. To be a major player when it comes to research & Development. This is key for us to continue being innovative in the health space.

At Makassi, we believe strongly in our continent and want to see it succeed – so we are not really in this just to make money. We are looking for ways on how we can develop our countries’ capacities through skilling youths. We want to ensure that we have a long pipeline of skilled labour feeding our factory.

We also want to invest in Agriculture to support our farmers. If you are going to build manufacturing at its highest level, you must also build agriculture. We hope to build manufacturing structures and systems to tap opportunities around manufacturing. We are looking at building those structures ourselves or find strategic partners already in those spaces and we see how we can work with them.

Written By Joshua Stephen Kawanguzi and First Published By Cueafrica