SUN Business Nutrition Champion and SUN Pitch Competition winner receives business training

Originally published by the SUN Business Network

Ope Olanrewaju, founder of Kennie-O Cold Chain Logistics, was crowned the SUN Business Network (SBN) Nutrition Champion and winner of the first ever Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Pitch Competition in October 2018, at the Nutrition Africa Investor Forum

Ope Olanrewaju, founder of Kennie-O Cold Chain Logistics

The competition showcased investment opportunities in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) working to improve access to nutritious food across Africa. Out of more than 450 outstanding entries from national pitch competitions in Nigeria, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia, 21 SMEs were shortlisted to participate in the Africa regional final, pitching their business to over 200 participants and investors, with Kennie-O Logistics winning the overall prize.

Established in 2014, Kennie-O Logistics provides dedicated and reliable cold chain solutions for the Nigerian food industry, thereby contributing to the reduction of post-harvest losses, promotion of fresh food intake, and strengthening of local nutritional outcomes. Kennie-O Logistics is strategically positioned as a nutrient preservation business in the food value chain and also serves as a key enabler in supply chains for farmers, processors, retailers and final consumers.

As the winner of the 2018 SUN Pitch Competition, Ope received a technical assistance and mentorship prize in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The week-long business development training was provided by BoP Innovation Center (BoP Inc), a business accelerator supporting entrepreneurs around three core pillars of expertise; Marketing & Distribution, Inclusive Innovation and Inclusive Business Empowerment.  Over the course of the week, BoP Inc equipped Ope with knowledge and expertise to scale his business, ultimately contributing to improved access to nutritious foods in Nigeria.

“I have had a wonderful experience and I am grateful to BoP Inc for the training. I met wonderful people and have benefitted greatly from the training on mapping our customers’ journey and finance. These have equipped me with knowledge on how to generate enough revenue for Kennie-O Logistics and position the business for the investments we are looking for. I also learnt that it is important for me to have a good financial track record which I can present to the investors in addition to highlighting the impact that Kennie-O Logistics intends to make in Nigeria through reducing food waste“

Ope Olanrewaju, winner of the first ever Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Pitch Competition

The 2019/2020 SUN Pitch Competition will take place across Africa and Asia and the SUN Business Network will launch more information via the SBN website shortly.

#SUNPitchComp winner, @KcoldLogistics received fantastic business development mentorship and training prize hosted by @BoPInc in the Netherlands last week. Read more about this amazing experience here: https://t.co/RJTyD5sYma #InvestInNutrition #BusinessInNutrition pic.twitter.com/sStLbzf7qW

— SUN Business Network (@SUNBizNet) May 3, 2019