In 2009, Eunice Mwongera decided to expand Hillside Green Growers and Exporters Company, her family-owned fruit and vegetable business. A graduate of Nairobi University and former finance officer at the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Mwongera, applied for the USDA Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology (Borlaug) Fellowship Program. Not long after, she was paired with a mentor at Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center for six weeks to learn U.S. best practices in agribusiness development and management. The fellowship was part of a program that provided U.S.-based agribusiness and collaborative research training to African women. Within a…
However, her dream to have an export business came with barriers. At produce stall to produce stall in Dubai, she was rejected and dismissed on gender and age. However,she was determined. The last stalls, Fresh Fruits Company, boosted her confidence to make entrepreneurship a realistic goal. “…Thirteen years later, Fresh Fruits continues to be our prime customer having supported us all these years,” Eunice wrote in an e-mail to the World Bank. Ms. Mwongera is CEO of Hillside Green Growers in Kenya. The family-run export business works with small scale farmers from eastern and central Nairobi provinces to produce fruits…
Our sister organization, The Global Small Business Blog, under its parent organization GlobeTrade.com, just published their latest monthly e-newsletter, “Borderbuster,” (Issue No. 116 – sign up here) and it is only fitting for this blog post to mention the quote that was featured under the Wind Behind Your Sail section: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” ~Winston Churchill That said, two years ago, Eunice Mwongera (pictured left) decided to grow her Hillside Green Growers and Exporters Company, a family-owned fruit and vegetable business. A graduate of Nairobi University and…
Eunice Mwongera is the type of entrepreneur whose faith and values are quietly embodied in every aspect of her successful company, Hillside Green Growers. In her processing plant, located in Nairobi, she employs mostly women, many of whom are single mothers from the informal settlement of Kibera. Mwongera’s approach to entrepreneurship stems from her commitment to making a positive difference into the world. Her efforts have been rewarded with a successful, growing business based on traceability of her products and efficiency in her operations. Launched in 1998 with a single shipment of mangoes to a client in Dubai, today Hillside…
Growth in a Globalized Industry The Case of Hillside Green Growers & Exporters Ltd In 1998, Nairobi-based Hillside Green Growers & Exporters Ltd. began with a single shipment of mangoes to Dubai. Today, Hillside has blossomed into a steady exporter with a broad product line of fresh fruits and vegetables sold to buyers in the Middle East and Europe Download full article
The Case of Hillside Green Growers & Exporters Ltd. Late one afternoon in January 2010, Eunice Mwongera, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nairobi-based horticultural export company Hillside Green Growers & Exporters, watched as the daily shipment of snow peas and French beans left Hillside’s packing facility for the airport. Download full article
Hillside Green Growers, contributing to food security 'The role of small and medium Agro-enterprises in achieving food security’ was the subject of a KLV Alumni ‘World Lecture’ that took place on January 15, 2014 in the Impulse Building 115 of Wageningen UR. To this end KLV had invited AAA Member Mrs. Eunice Mwongera from Kenya, who is the owner of Hillside Green Growers. Hillside Green Growers is an SME that is engaging smallholder farmers in the Mt Kenya Region in value chains in quality fresh fruits (mango, avocado, passion fruit) and vegetables (beans, sugar snaps, carrots, chillies, aubergines) for markets…
The ‘Role of Small and Medium Agro-Enterprises in achieving food security’ was the subject of a KLV Alumni ‘World Lecture’ that took place on January 15, 2014 in the Impulse Building of Wageningen UR. To this end KLV had invited AAA Member Mrs Eunice Mwongera from Kenya, who is the owner of Hillside Green Growers. Hillside Green Growers is an SME that is engaging smallholder farmers in the Mt Kenya Region in value chains in quality fresh fruits (mango, avocado, passion fruit) and vegetables (beans, sugar snaps, carrots, chillies, aubergines) for markets in Europe, the Middle East and local. For a…
Sourcing from smallholders The Africa Agribusiness Academy Case study HILLSIDE GREEN GROWERS AND EXPORTERS Eunice Mwongera Company Background • Hillside Green is a family export company that was founded in 1998 with a clear mission; to farm and export fresh and healthy fruits & vegetables to the global market. • Hillside specializes in three product segments: o Exotic vegetables o Fruits o Asian Vegetables • Hillside is a leading exporter to Dubai, Kuwait and Qatar, and also exports into UK, Holland and, Norway UK. Currently the company is targeting the COMESA regional market. • Hillside Green produces 30% (of all…
Hillside Green Growers and Exporters, Kindaruma Road
P.O. Box 73485 – 00200 Nairobi, Kenya
tel; +254 0202397353, +254 0208029975
Cell; 254 722 514 375, +254 720969125
Email: sales(at)hillsidegreen.com / eunice(at)hillsidegreen.com,
www.hillsidegreen.com skype: eunice.mwongera1