KENYA - Sky Foods Limited, the manufacturer of the legendary TreeTop juice brand, has been officially declared insolvent and placed under receivership. 

This development comes seven years after the company reintroduced the once-popular juice brand to the Kenyan market in 2017. A notice dated September 30, 2024, confirmed that an official receiver had been appointed as the company’s administrator, effective September 26, 2024.

The notice outlined that the assets and operations of Sky Foods are now vested with the appointed administrator, and no legal action can be taken against the company without the administrator's consent. 

“The affairs of the company, as well as its assets, are now vested with the Administrator,” the statement read.

Sky Foods' revival attempt and challenges

Sky Foods was founded by Bernard Githuthu Njoroge, a former Director of Del Monte Kenya, a major player in the juice production industry. 

Njoroge acquired the rights to the TreeTop brand from Unilever Kenya in 2011 and sought to revive the iconic juice, which had disappeared from Kenyan store shelves in the mid-1990s. 

Hoping to capitalize on the brand's nostalgic value, Sky Foods launched a KSh 500 million (US$3.8 million) juice processing plant in Juja in 2017. The plant was projected to produce 12 million liters of juice annually.

The state-owned Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) invested KSh 100 million (US$775 thousand) in equity in Sky Foods to support the company's operations. 

At its peak, Sky Foods employed over 600 Kenyans and produced the juice in five flavors: orange, mango, apple, tropical, and a mix of strawberry and banana.

Market realities and financial struggles

Despite early optimism, Sky Foods faced significant challenges that likely contributed to its financial downfall. 

The high cost of doing business in Kenya, coupled with dwindling disposable income among consumers, put pressure on the company’s bottom line. As fruit juices became less of a priority for many households, competition in the beverage market intensified, with major producers and bottlers commanding substantial market shares.

The company's reliance on TreeTop's nostalgic appeal may not have been sufficient to drive long-term consumer demand. Though initially popular in the 1980s and 1990s, the brand's reintroduction struggled to maintain relevance in a market crowded with more established and innovative competitors.