Chiri Joe is a family company stitched together by a sense of shared values, giving back to the community, and history. Priscilla Ngera always wanted to start a food business. However, as a single parent it wasn’t easy. When the Covid 19 pandemic hit, inevitably bringing with it concerns about job stability and the need to support her family, she knew it was the time to make that leap and in October 2020 Chiru Joe was born.
Priscilla is from Kenya and is part of the Kikuya tribe, where it is traditional for names to reflect family connections. Children are often named after their grandparents. Priscilla’s paternal grandparents had nine children, and all the daughters were named after their grandmother, Chiru, which is short for Wanjiri. To distinguish her from the other Chirus in the family and because her father’s name was Joseph, Priscilla was called Chiru Joe. When creating her new business, Priscilla knew that this name was the perfect choice because it represented the links of family and tradition that were such an intimate part of her new venture.
Weaver Street Market is excited to have Chiru Joe’s Game Changer products in our stores. Chiru Joe creates unique, fruit-packed Apple Butter, Sweet Potato Butter, and jams such as Bear Jam (blackberry, elderberry, apple, and raspberry) Frog Jam (fig, raspberry, orange, and ginger) and Traffic Jam (strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry.) These items are great for your breakfast toast, bagel or biscuit as well as using as a topping for waffles and pancakes. (We suspect that nobody will miss the syrup!) Also try them as a compote for many different dishes, both sweet and savory.
You can visit Chiru Joe’s Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/chirujoebrand/