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Dry fruits sold as an alternative to candy lovers at Souk Kenya



    Ahmed Sasso at Souk, village market.

 KENYA - Ahmed Sasso is the owner of Souk,  a business that sells dry fruits as an alternative to candy at the village market, Nairobi, for Kenyans who enjoy imported dry fruits, nuts, and chocolates from different countries.
This is the first time that Ahmed who is influenced by his Lebanese background, is trying out this venture in Kenya. The business has a high demand in Lebanon but in Kenya, the concept is still foreign. Souk has been open for only two months but customers keep coming back for their products.

 On a Friday afternoon, I met Sasso at Souk.During the interview, I was interrupted by customers who were inquiring about his products. I took the opportunity to look around the shop which had a  unique design and logo by Nour Samman an International graphic designer.The products were strategically placed from the entrance to the cashier area.There is also a black wall that has writing that informs customers about health benefits that they will gain from dry fruits.

The 23-year-old recent graduate, who has studied for business and political science in Beirut created Souk with his business partner who has brought a different experience and perspective to the business.They import their dried fruits from Italy, Chile, Iran, and Thailand."So far it is still new, we have both benefited from each other's experiences.Our only focus is people trying our products and people walking back into the shop and saying this is delicious and this is nice", he said.

 Their chocolates come from Lebanon while their nuts which are regular,  have a roasted flavor and are seasoned and smoked.They are imported from Lebanon and Dubai. Souk's chocolates come in a variety of flavors including; pistachio, coconut and strawberry and hazelnut pieces and much more.Their Coco comes from Ecuador and is one of the finest that you can find on the market.Other confectionery items that they are selling includes saffron and chocolate coated coffee beans. 

 Their dried fruits are healthy and full of minerals and vitamins, Sasso says if you are going to satisfy your cravings, you might as well satisfy it with natural dried fruits than candy which has a lot of sugar, adding, the nuts are delicious and full of proteins.

"Before opening, we were a bit hesitant.We didn't expect the demand to be high, we thought it would take a while for people to adopt our products, however much excitement was shown".he said.

He wanted to invest in a business that he would enjoy. He was looking for good quality dried fruits for himself, friends and for people in Kenya to taste.According to him, he was always looking for products that he used to snack on when he was in Beirut.Before sports or a hike, he used to indulge in dry fruits, he also wanted products that he could give out as a gift but he was not satisfied with the quality.
Sasso says that every startup has challenges such as working for seven days in a week, 12 hours a day, but challenges become meaningless once you see something you have created is being embraced." My main advice would be, pay attention to every single detail because mistakes pile up and they can be the cause of your downfall.However, if you make sure that everything you do is correct, things will move much smoother than you expect, so don't take too many tasks that you cant handle".he said.

 At the moment he is focusing on the present by giving customers quality products at Souk he does not want to be distracted by future ambitions, he wants to go with the flow of letting future ambitions come naturally.

Fruit drying is one of the oldest methods of preserving food. When the first Europeans settled in America they used to dry apple, grapes, dried corn, and meat.Sun drying of food during the olden days was one of the best ways to prolong food. 
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