In the spirit of International Women’s Month, Platform Africa celebrates Madvee Muthu, the force behind Bees with Stories. Driven by her fascination with beekeeping, Madvee embarked on a journey that led to the founding of her company in 2018, focusing on African bee products and supporting thousands of beekeepers across five countries. Her story, from training as a beekeeper to becoming a honey sommelier, highlights the potential and challenges in the apiculture sector. Madvee’s experience at the WTO-ITC event sheds light on the importance of creating opportunities for women entrepreneurs, advising passion and perseverance as key to overcoming the entrepreneurial hurdles.
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur? How would you describe your journey to date?
I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur and run my own company. It was just a matter of finding the one thing I was passionate about. For me, this happened in 2016 when I discovered the intrinsic benefits of beekeeping on the environment and biodiversity conservation. I was hooked; I wanted to learn more…one thing led to another: I started by studying the apiculture value chain to understand if there was any potential to grow this into a viable project; I trained as a beekeeper to better understand the bees and how they function as a colony; I trained as a honey sommelier to learn more about honey aromas and flavours and how best to embrace their diversity.
Tell us about your company Bees with Stories. What kind of products and services do you offer?
I started ‘Bees with Stories’ in January 2018 but the idea for the project was germinating since May 2017. I had gone to Ethiopia to research traditional beekeeping. Later that year, I attended my first Apimondia in Istanbul where I got to meet major players along the apiculture value chain. My deep dive into the apiculture value chain convinced me of its potential. So, in January 2018, I officially registered the company and the trade name “Bees with Stories”.
In a nutshell, BwS is a brand specialising in the commercialisation of bee products sourced exclusively from African countries. We are focusing on honey and beeswax at the moment. We work with over 3000 beekeepers in 5 countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius and Tanzania. We collaborate with beekeeper groups and beekeeping companies in each country to source our honey varietals and beeswax. As a social enterprise, we pay premium prices for our orders. This also helps us build reliability in our supply chain. When and where necessary, we provide technical assistance to the beekeepers so that they meet market standards for exports.
How do you see the opportunities and challenges in your sector? Are you interesting in expanding into other countries?
There are many opportunities but even more challenges in the sector; opportunities because most African honey varietals remain unknown to premium markets so there is potential to create a space for them. However, there are many challenges still…rent seeking behaviour from key officers in both public and private sector (purchasing officers), inconsistency in quality standards, price instability due to inflation, etc.
We will be expanding but not right away. I want to stabilise our operations in the 5 countries and grow our sales before we enter a new country. I don’t want to rush our expansion. Slow and steady wins the race, right?
You were recently part of the Mauritian delegation of women entrepreneurs to the WTO-ITC High Level Event on Women in Trade in Abu Dhabi. What were your key takeaways from this event?
A lot remains to be done to unlock the full potential of women-owned businesses. Funding is essential but not sufficient; irrespective of sector, one thing that affects women-owned businesses is the lack of access to opportunities. If the space for engaging with other businesses/buyers/traders remains close, it will take significantly longer for women to make significant headway. Access can take many forms – a company making its supply chain more inclusive by opting to buy from women-owned businesses (with comparable quality standards), sector-specific networking event to allow business relations to forge, a recommendation from a trusted individual/business/stakeholder, clear and simplified bidding processes, etc. It can be as simple as a woman who made it big despite all odds and paying it forward by giving her business to other women-owned businesses.
As we celebrate International Women’s Month, what would be your advice for aspiring women entrepreneurs?
Choose something you are passionate about. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted. You need to love what you do or else it will be a struggle. Despite the challenges, I love every minute spent working on my project.
About Bees with Stories
‘Bees with Stories’ is dedicated to transforming African beekeeping, enabling beekeepers to sell their products globally under its brand. The company focuses on increasing income for African farmers, making them more resilient to shocks and promoting forest conservation. Through branding, marketing, and establishing a distribution network, alongside technical assistance for beekeepers, ‘Bees with Stories’ merges indigenous knowledge with contemporary skills. Adhering to ethical and fair trade practices, the enterprise also reinvests profits back into the communities and expands beekeeping partnerships across Africa, inspired by the founder’s journey that began with a chance encounter and a passion for local honey varieties. Learn more on their website, https://beeswithstories.com
