On 11th December, 2020, MWDL Production team visited Karatina University, to hold a consultative meeting with a team from Karatina University, as convened by the Director, University-Industry Linkage, working closely with Directorate of Research, Innovation and Extension.
The meeting came in the wake of Innovative products, which Mukurwe-ini Wakulima Dairy Ltd. had developed and recently launched coffee-flavoured yoghurt in partnership with Dedan Kimathi University of Technology. On this basis, the meeting was convened to discuss:
- Possible collaboration and dairy products that Mukurwe-ini Wakulima Dairy Ltd. can develop in partnership with Karatina University
- Conduct of research on the possibility of extending the shelf life of their milk from the current 30-35 days to 45 days or so.
- Develop other products as required to strengthen the partnership for the mutual benefit of both parties.
In response to the concerns raised by Mukurwe-ini Wakulima Dairy Ltd. team, the University team welcomed the idea and proposed:
- That the MWDL team drafts exactly what they wanted done by KarU
- That the initial research possibility of developing purple tea-flavoured yoghurt would be a starting point for KarU after consultation with KarU management
- That there would be a follow-up meeting in January after the presentation of the request by MWDL to the KarU team who will prepare it accordingly and present the same to the Management of KarU
