3 minute read
Spotlight on Meru Herbs
Meru Herbs is a female-led organisation in rural Kenya and is dedicated to fair trade principles, with a clear mission to empower women, alleviate poverty and improve standards of living.
This month, we spoke to Sally from Meru Herbs, who talked us through the many stages of fair trade sauce production. So, the next time you open a delicious jar or Meru Herbs sauce, you’ll know exactly how it got from rural Kenya to get to your kitchen table!
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Stage 1. Receiving: Each farmer carries their bags with the tomatoes to Meru Herbs Factory site. Stage 2. Grading: The produce is graded for quality check. Any foreign plant materials, leaves, roots etc. are removed.
Stage 3. Weighing: After Grading the produce is weighed and then recorded in each farmer’s record book and the factory’s records book.
Stage 4. Storage: After recording of all the information regarding the tomatoes, the produce is stored.
Stage 5. Sorting: When the production starts, the tomatoes undergo another quality check before approval for processing.
Stage 6. Weighing: Selected tomatoes are weighed again. Stage 8. Peeling: Tomatoes are dipped in hot water to remove outer skin. The fruits/ tomatoes are peeled and the seeds are extracted, this waste is carried to the compost pit.
Stage 9. Grading: The produce is graded to check to confirm quality for cooking.
Stage 10. Weighing: In the recommended containers the produce is weighed and the information is recorded in a “production records book”. Sugar, lemon juice and other ingredients are weighed in this step and recorded in the same book.
Stage 11. Cooking: After weighing fruits/ tomatoes are cut, squeezed and/or chopped to obtain the pulp ready to cook. The cooking is done in the cookers.
Stage 12. First Check: The first check is done during the cooking with specific instruments. Parameters such as PH, brix and temperature are checked and recorded.
Stage 13. Sterilizing of the empty jars and cups: During the cooking the empty jars and the cups are sterilized in hot water to clean and to avoid external contamination.
Stage 14. Scooping: When the jam/sauce is ready it’s scooped with special tools and put in a big bottling pot with a tap to fill the jars.
Stage 15. Bottling: The jars are filled and each jar is sorted according to the quality. The jars are then closed with the sterilized cups. The temperature is controlled during this entire step.
Stage 16. Sterilizing: The closed jars are sterilized in the cookers with the boiled water for 30 minutes.
Stage 17. Cooling: The jars are then moved in the trays according to batches and left overnight to cool.
Stage 18. Second check: Next day the jars undergo a weight and vacuum check. PH and brix level are tested for each batch before putting a batch number at the bottom of the jar. Stage 19. Storage: The jars are stored in the warehouse in well partitioned cartons.
Stage 20. Labeling: Jars are then labeled with approved labels printed according to different clients. Expiry dated must be printed neatly with no smudges on every label.
Stage 21. Packing: The products are collected in the cartons printed according to different clients and on each carton is stamped the code of jam, expiry date and the batch no.
Stage 22. Dispatch: The final product is dispatched according to the customer: container by plane or sea for export, lorry for local sales.
