In our last conversation with Ellinace Mwale, we learned about her experiment with making hot sauce from her Birds Eye Chili.  When we try something new, it is advisable to try as much as we can to test everything before we jump into a big investment in time and money, and she did exactly that.  She produced a limited batch, both to test the formula and the market.  It seems to have worked.  Although she is not in full production, she is now making monthly batches.  Producing her hot sauce twice per month, 60 bottles each time.  While she is in [...]

Last week, we spoke to Ellinace Mwale about her Birds Eye Chili cultivation.  We learned she has one acre of chili on her farm in Lumbadzi, Dowa, in the center region of Malawi.  Now we are going to dive into her value-adding activity, the Sunrise Kapilipili Hot Sauce.  I first asked her what prompted her to start processing her chili at home and create a finished product.  She explained to me, that chili, since not a product you use in high quantity, like say bananas, it is difficult to rely on selling your total harvest on a local market.  She knew [...]