A fortune out of wine making
THE story of Isabella and Joseph Oteng is a story of indigenous wine makers; a story that can inspire even the dullest entrepreneur.
By Denis Ocwich
THE story of Isabella and Joseph Oteng is a story of indigenous wine makers; a story that can inspire even the dullest entrepreneur.
For the last 10 years, this couple has made good dough out of making wine from passion fruits, pineapples and tamarind. Only recently, they have added grapes to the list of their raw materials. And soon they might start processing apples as well.
“All these assets you see came from wine,†says Isabella, pointing at the wall-around her courtyard.
“We are looking after 11 children, three of them now studying at university. It is wine which helps us pay school fees and buy food,†adds her husband Joseph Oteng, a retired clinical officer.
Six years ago when I first visited their home at Ngetta, 10 km from Lira town on Kitgum Road, there was only one housing block of about two bedrooms, and a small kitchen. But my recent trip told a lot about what this enterprising family has generated through wine production.
There is a big new block, comprising several rooms, including a conference hall, sitting room, stores and a wine shop. A sh9m Nissan Sahara (single-cabin) was also procured using the wine proceeds.
In the compound are scattered green and yellow 20-litre jerry cans (over 50 in total), emptied after the wine in them have been sold. Inside the main store, there are over 1,000 jerry cans — some empty and others filled with wine.
What started 11 years ago as a hobby, has turned into a successful enterprize.
“It was in 1996. I had just cut six passion fruits and left the juice in a 5-litre jerry can. I couldn’t drink it immediately, and after keeping it for a week, the juice in the jerry can tasted like wine,†Isabella narrates.
It was her daughter, Grace Apio, a registered nurse, who advised her to start making wine from passion fruits. “She told me, ‘Atat, the juice has turned into wine, you should start making wine.’ I think it is just a gift from God,†recalls Isabella, who prefers to keep a low profile and instead let the husband, who is the main marketing person, do much of the talking during the interview.
According to Oteng, they now prefer tamarind and grapes, which are grown organically. The fruits used for making Tsabella wine are bought from local farmers. “We are interested in organic fruits because wine made from such fruits has more market the one made from fruits that have been sprayed with insecticides,†says 74-year-old Oteng.
In their compound are four stems of green grapes, which is harvested twice a year. The first harvest, in 2003, yielded 83kg of grape fruits.
In recent years, the Isabella Wine Industry has been working closely with the National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU), which, among others, has provided technical training and helped to sell Tsabella wine in trade shows. The wine, in bottles and paper-sachets, is available in NOGAMU stores at Kabalagala in Kampala. Some of the products are exported to South Africa, the UK and Kenya, Oteng says.
“Tsabella wine competes favourably on the national market,†he boasts as he points at a number of national awards that have so far accrued to Isabella.
On May 3, 2006 during the 10th anniversary of the Association of Micro-finance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU), Isabella Oteng was recognised for her “commitment to poverty eradication and job creation.†She was assessed as the overall 3rd best performing microfinance client of FINCA Uganda. She has been getting loans from FINCA, Lira branch.
The couple also received a separate Bronze award from CityGroup Corporate & Investment Bank.
Earlier in 2001, the Otengs were at Sheraton Kampala Hotel where they received a Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE) Award of Excellence, in recognition and appreciation of their entrepreneurship development.
They were honoured for producing one of the best locally-made wines in Uganda.
“At one point, we were producing over 100 jerry cans of wine in a week,†says Isabella. “In festive seasons like Christmas or Easter, we could earn sh1m in a day from wine sales.â€
But their production has since slumped because of, among others, high sugar prices and the northern insurgency. For about three years (2001 – 2003) at the peak of the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency in Lira, they were out of production. “We had to flee to Lira town with over 3,000 jerry cans full of wine. We could not sell much,†laments Oteng.
Tsabella wines are packaged in jerry cans, plastic sachets and bottles. A 20-litre jerry can of tamarind or passion wine goes for sh40,000; a 750ml bottle of the same brand is sh10,000; and a 100ml nylon packet of it goes for sh300. Grape wine is a little more expensive, at sh16,000 a 750ml bottle.
Oteng says the wine last a year in a jerry can before it is put in a bottle. Once properly packaged, the wine can stay in the container (jerry can, bottle or nylon sachet) for years before going stale, Oteng assures as he displays a bottle of wine that was sealed in 2000.
At the moment, Tsabella wine makers have acquired a purifier and a sucro-meter. The latter is used for testing the alcohol content of the wine. To improve on the packaging. They are planning to procure better sealing machines and to start making high-standard plastic containers.
“Eventually we will acquire licence and start exporting our wine to many countries.â€
But they are also still looking around for capital to boost their financial base. For a long time, they have been clients of FINCA Uganda, Lira branch where they started with a loan of sh50,000 but are now entitled to disbursement to the tune of sh500,000.
“If only we could get a donor to grant us about sh15m, we would do much better,†Oteng appeals.
Perhaps the other good thing that has come out of Isabella Wine Industry is that it has served as a demonstration point for knowledge transfer. To date, a number of people are making wine locally in Lira. Many of the local wine brewmasters have borrowed a leaf from Isabella. Talk of the power of indigenous knowledge!
THE story of Isabella and Joseph Oteng is a story of indigenous wine makers; a story that can inspire even the dullest entrepreneur.
For the last 10 years, this couple has made good dough out of making wine from passion fruits, pineapples and tamarind. Only recently, they have added grapes to the list of their raw materials. And soon they might start processing apples as well.
“All these assets you see came from wine,†says Isabella, pointing at the wall-around her courtyard.
“We are looking after 11 children, three of them now studying at university. It is wine which helps us pay school fees and buy food,†adds her husband Joseph Oteng, a retired clinical officer.
Six years ago when I first visited their home at Ngetta, 10 km from Lira town on Kitgum Road, there was only one housing block of about two bedrooms, and a small kitchen. But my recent trip told a lot about what this enterprising family has generated through wine production.
There is a big new block, comprising several rooms, including a conference hall, sitting room, stores and a wine shop. A sh9m Nissan Sahara (single-cabin) was also procured using the wine proceeds.
In the compound are scattered green and yellow 20-litre jerry cans (over 50 in total), emptied after the wine in them have been sold. Inside the main store, there are over 1,000 jerry cans — some empty and others filled with wine.
What started 11 years ago as a hobby, has turned into a successful enterprize.
“It was in 1996. I had just cut six passion fruits and left the juice in a 5-litre jerry can. I couldn’t drink it immediately, and after keeping it for a week, the juice in the jerry can tasted like wine,†Isabella narrates.
It was her daughter, Grace Apio, a registered nurse, who advised her to start making wine from passion fruits. “She told me, ‘Atat, the juice has turned into wine, you should start making wine.’ I think it is just a gift from God,†recalls Isabella, who prefers to keep a low profile and instead let the husband, who is the main marketing person, do much of the talking during the interview.
According to Oteng, they now prefer tamarind and grapes, which are grown organically. The fruits used for making Tsabella wine are bought from local farmers. “We are interested in organic fruits because wine made from such fruits has more market the one made from fruits that have been sprayed with insecticides,†says 74-year-old Oteng.
In their compound are four stems of green grapes, which is harvested twice a year. The first harvest, in 2003, yielded 83kg of grape fruits.
In recent years, the Isabella Wine Industry has been working closely with the National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU), which, among others, has provided technical training and helped to sell Tsabella wine in trade shows. The wine, in bottles and paper-sachets, is available in NOGAMU stores at Kabalagala in Kampala. Some of the products are exported to South Africa, the UK and Kenya, Oteng says.
“Tsabella wine competes favourably on the national market,†he boasts as he points at a number of national awards that have so far accrued to Isabella.
On May 3, 2006 during the 10th anniversary of the Association of Micro-finance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU), Isabella Oteng was recognised for her “commitment to poverty eradication and job creation.†She was assessed as the overall 3rd best performing microfinance client of FINCA Uganda. She has been getting loans from FINCA, Lira branch.
The couple also received a separate Bronze award from CityGroup Corporate & Investment Bank.
Earlier in 2001, the Otengs were at Sheraton Kampala Hotel where they received a Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE) Award of Excellence, in recognition and appreciation of their entrepreneurship development.
They were honoured for producing one of the best locally-made wines in Uganda.
“At one point, we were producing over 100 jerry cans of wine in a week,†says Isabella. “In festive seasons like Christmas or Easter, we could earn sh1m in a day from wine sales.â€
But their production has since slumped because of, among others, high sugar prices and the northern insurgency. For about three years (2001 – 2003) at the peak of the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency in Lira, they were out of production. “We had to flee to Lira town with over 3,000 jerry cans full of wine. We could not sell much,†laments Oteng.
Tsabella wines are packaged in jerry cans, plastic sachets and bottles. A 20-litre jerry can of tamarind or passion wine goes for sh40,000; a 750ml bottle of the same brand is sh10,000; and a 100ml nylon packet of it goes for sh300. Grape wine is a little more expensive, at sh16,000 a 750ml bottle.
Oteng says the wine last a year in a jerry can before it is put in a bottle. Once properly packaged, the wine can stay in the container (jerry can, bottle or nylon sachet) for years before going stale, Oteng assures as he displays a bottle of wine that was sealed in 2000.
At the moment, Tsabella wine makers have acquired a purifier and a sucro-meter. The latter is used for testing the alcohol content of the wine. To improve on the packaging. They are planning to procure better sealing machines and to start making high-standard plastic containers.
“Eventually we will acquire licence and start exporting our wine to many countries.â€
But they are also still looking around for capital to boost their financial base. For a long time, they have been clients of FINCA Uganda, Lira branch where they started with a loan of sh50,000 but are now entitled to disbursement to the tune of sh500,000.
“If only we could get a donor to grant us about sh15m, we would do much better,†Oteng appeals.
Perhaps the other good thing that has come out of Isabella Wine Industry is that it has served as a demonstration point for knowledge transfer. To date, a number of people are making wine locally in Lira. Many of the local wine brewmasters have borrowed a leaf from Isabella. Talk of the power of indigenous knowledge!