One afternoon, Brian Selelo and his longtime friend Cherotich Nzau met to reconnect after nearly two years apart. Although they had stayed in touch remotely, they hadn’t met in person since one of them travelled abroad in search of greener pastures.
Their catch-up meeting quickly turned into a brainstorming session on how to supplement their incomes. Both shared a strong passion for agribusiness, and both had dabbled in it with mixed results.
“My business partner had previously tried growing herbs in Nanyuki through telephone farming, but it proved unsustainable. She eventually gave it up,” Mr Selelo recalls.
They evaluated various agribusiness ideas—chillies, capsicums, herbs—and after thorough market research and assessing product value, they settled on herbs. “I had been researching herbs for years, and thankfully, our ideas aligned,” he says.
In 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted livelihoods across the country, the two pooled their savings, raising Sh 5 million as seed capital, and leased a 10-acre farm, just a few kilometres from Kitengela town, in Kajiado County.
Mexican Tarragon crops at the Aromatic Fresh Kenya farm in Kitengela, Kajiado on April 10, 2025.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
Mr Selelo, who was employed in the public sector at the time, eventually quit his job in early 2023 once the venture gained traction. His co-founder also exited formal employment to focus fully on the business.
Over time, their friendship has grown into a resilient family business—Aromatic Fresh Kenya —which now includes their spouses as directors.
Today, the 10-acre farm is a hive of activity. Four acres are under greenhouse cultivation, while the rest host perennial crops in open fields.
“We started with just two greenhouses during the Covid-19 period. We now have 56 greenhouse tunnels,” says Ms Nzau, a former private sector professional.
Inside the greenhouses, they grow basil—their flagship export crop—alongside tarragon, oregano, marjoram, and sage. Outdoors, they cultivate thyme, rosemary, sorrel, lemon balm, lovage, and flat parsley. Most are perennial and can be harvested for up to two years before replanting.
Basil takes 24 days in the nursery and an additional 21 days in the greenhouse to mature under good agricultural practices. “We assess the crop’s readiness by looking at leaf colour and stem weight,” says the 38-year-old.
To ensure consistent year-round production, the farm relies on drip irrigation and fertigation, a method of delivering nutrients through irrigation. During dry seasons, they pump borehole water using solar energy.
“Fertigation saves time and resources and ensures nutrients are delivered directly to the root zone,” Mr Selelo explains. The system suits farms of any size and can be customised for manual or fully automated operations.
On average, they harvest two tonnes of basil every week for export. Herbs grown outdoors yield around 500 kilos weekly, with each kilo fetching about Sh300.
Their export markets include the UK, through an intermediary and the Netherlands, which they supply directly.
The challenges
But exporting herbs is no walk in the park. “The export market is highly regulated,” says Ms Nzau.
“We are regularly audited by Kephis and Global G.A.P. In fact, some clients carry out random lab tests to check compliance with EU pesticide residue limits. You must be extremely meticulous.”
The company also holds an export licence from the Horticultural Crops Directorate (HCD), which provides training and support for horticultural exporters.
Workers weighing herbal crops at the Aromatic Fresh Kenya farm in Kitengela, Kajiado on April 10, 2025.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
From nine employees at inception, Aromatic Fresh Kenya now employs more than 50 workers, both permanent and casual.
So how have they managed to grow over the years?
Their growth secret
Mr Selelo attributes their growth to shared values, grit, and learning from experience. “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. That’s what co-founding does—it allows you to complement each other in management and decision-making,” he says.
Their impact has not gone unnoticed.
In March 2025, Aromatic Fresh Kenya was shortlisted by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) for the Lab Innova “Luca Attanasio Edition” training programme held in Nairobi.
The programme, run in partnership with HCD, focused on technical, managerial, and market-access skills to empower agribusinesses in Kenya’s fruit and vegetable export sector. It brought together 45 top-performing agribusinesses from across the country.
As part of the programme, Aromatic Fresh Kenya was also selected for a study tour to Italy in May 2025 to participate in Macfrut, one of Europe’s leading fruits and vegetables expos. The trip will expose them to best practices, innovation, and global networks.
There are also other challenges they faced.
“Scarcity of technical expertise in herbs cultivation,” Ms Nzau says.
Most of their workers have also had to learn from experience. In herb farming, one is unlikely to get a worker who has ready skills. They now rely on consultants to help them hire, which has helped them secure great talent.
The high cost of logistics, because the herbs are transported by air, makes Kenyan produce uncompetitive in the global market.
A Worker packaging herbal crops at the Aromatic Fresh Kenya farm in Kitengela, Kajiado on April 10, 2025.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
“The sector is yet to find a solution around this,” she says.
There is also the issue of certification for the export process which is expensive and can be a barrier for farmers starting out.
Biggest revenue
But despite the challenges, the herb farmers say they are reaping gains. The biggest revenue they have earned, and volumes exported was 270 tonnes of fresh herbs and realised over Sh105 million in revenue.
What made this possible?
“Focus, expertise, reinvestment, and building the right systems from day one,” Selelo said. “We’ve remained consistent in quality and compliance while growing gradually and learning from our mistakes,” Mr Selelo says.
Entrepreneurship is a labour of love and as more Kenyans look to farming to earn a living or diversify their wealth, what tips can Mr Selelo and Ms Nzau offer to farmers looking to join the herb export business.
They offer three insights. “One, get the right expertise. Farming is technical in nature and having the right personnel is key. Two, consistency in quality and production and adherence to global standards will give you a competitive edge. Three is patience. Agriculture is not a “get-rich-quick” scheme. Do the right things consistently over a period of time and the results will follow,” says Ms Nzau.
