Over the years, the dairy industry has grown to be one of the biggest players in the Kenyan Economy, playing a key role in poverty reduction, job creation and improvement of food nutrition among consumers.
With the increasing controversy around dairy farming and products, it is more than essential to know where your dairy products come from and how the cattle used in tehri production are farmed. Luckily, we at Green Spoon have done this for you and have selected Bio as one of our dairy suppliers due to their amazing social impact and dedication to creating a positive environmental impact.
From grass to glass
Bio source a lot of their milk from a fantastic team of small holder farmers. Bio’s Dairy Development Team regularly visit the farms and help the farmers produce as best quality milk as they can. Optimizing feeding hay, silage and feed to ensure the cows have an optimal diet whilst training on high hygiene standards, these farmers receive an amazing amount of training and knowledge that they can then pass on to their community and use in their other cattle farming. To reward the farmer for all his efforts, Bio pay a significant quality linked premium for his milk. The dairy industry, dominated by small-scale, is the most developed of the livestock sector in Kenya and is comparatively well developed relative to the diary industries of other Sub-Saharan Africa. It is business like Bio who support this system and help build it from the ground up.
Milk & yoghurt
When Bio started back in 1990, their main aim was to produce the most delicious yoghurts. Using the best live cultures and Kenya’s sweet, plump fruit, I think it’s safe to say their yoghurts are pretty scrummy! Bio believe the key to maintaining quality milk and yoghurt is in their stringent testing and tasting systems. Testing for bacterial counts, presence of anti-biotics and inhibitors, for aflatoxin levels and for other impurities happens for every batch that goes out to the customer.
Sustainability at Bio
From winning Best Sustainability Initiative in the 2018 Africa Food Industry Excellence Awards (AFMASS), Bio has not dampened its efforts and initiatives to become more sustainable and farm for a true good cause. Bio have replaced up to 35% of their energy requirement with fully renewable energy by implementing solar power generation. They now recycle up to 98% of their waste and have reduced their waste by 50%. To top it off, as part of their Dairy development Training they have managed to reduce 40% of their carbon emissions to the atmosphere through the training of their small-holder farmers. This is just a quick summary of some of the great work bio does and why Green Spoon supply their delicious creamy yoghurts and fresh milk.
Download the Bio 2022 Sustainability Report:Â BioFood Sustainability Report 2022
