The Wambugu Apple: How Kenyan farmer created unique apple variety, turned down Ksh.30M offer

He later got an opportunity to supply the tree tomatoes and passion fruits in a local international hotel but was asked to deliver the two fruit varieties plus apples. Wambugu did not know where to get the apples and in the process of finding the fruit, a woman asked him to go to the Aberdare forests and get the apple fruits. 

Wambugu came back home with a seedling and tried to plant it, but it did not do well, prompting him to get three more apple varieties which he grafted.

After planting the grafted seedlings, the tree produced fruits that were larger and sweeter than ordinary apples. The grafted apple tree produced between 300 and 500 fruits per year.

News started spreading and people were now interested in knowing more about this apple and Mr. Wambugu started receiving visitors from all over the country.

He first appeared in the newspaper in 2001 and as a result, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KARLO) then known as KARI came to approve the apple and they named it “The Wambugu Apple.”

“Agricultural experts from KARI came after my story on the 2001 gazette, they approved the fruit and named it, Wambugu Apple and that’s how the Apple came to life,” Mr. Wambugu said to Lynn Ngugi on LNN Network.

He disclosed that a few weeks later, he received a call from a ‘white man’ who requested to buy the name 'Wambugu Apple' for Ksh.30 million but Mr Wambugu was not willing to sell the Intellectual Property of the self-innovated special apple breed.

His family was very unhappy with him as they thought Ksh.30 million was a lot of money and would lift the family from poverty.

“There is a white man who came, I will not mention names, he placed Ksh.30 million on the table and asked me to sell them the name Wambugu Apple. I refused and my children were very unhappy with my decision,” Mr. Wambugu said.

Today they applaud their father for protecting the family legacy and they are glad they left their well-paying jobs and followed in the footsteps of their parents and now they farm the Wambugu Apple. This Apple has been able to earn the family billions of shillings and they have farmers across the world.

Speaking to Citizen Digital on the end-to-end Wambugu Apple agricultural value chain, Kate, the Wambugu Apple Ambassador, said the apple will be available in the local and international markets after the launch of the first, state-of-the-art apple washing, grading and packaging machine on the 12th of January 2024, in the Infinity Industrial Park in Kiambu County.

“The Wambugu Apple will be available in our local supermarkets, we will not continue selling the Apple kienyeji tu... it will be graded and packaged as from January 12th after the launch,” Kate told Citizen Digital.