By Wasike Elvis

Naivas Supermarkets has taken its flagship “Naivas Ni Kwetu” (Naivas is Home) campaign to Kisumu, bringing together diverse Kenyan communities, local suppliers, traditional foods and cultural performances in a colourful celebration of the country’s rich cultural heritage.

The event, held in Kisumu on Friday, September 18, 2026, marked the climax of the first quarter of Naivas’ 2027 Financial Year campaign, with the Luo community taking centre stage while other cultural communities from across the region and the country joined in showcasing Kenya’s diversity.

The celebration brought together representatives of 11 cultural communities, including the Luo, Kisii (Gusii), Suba, Kuria, Luhya, Teso, Samia, Kipsigis, Nandi and Maasai communities, as well as the Asian community, whose contribution to the region’s economic and social development has been longstanding.

The event was designed to demonstrate Naivas’ commitment to making its stores and services reflect the communities it serves, while creating opportunities for local businesses and suppliers to connect directly with consumers.

Naivas Head of Marketing Florence Saronge said the cultural representations were curated in partnership with the National Museums of Kenya, Kisumu, together with cultural advisers drawn from the respective communities.

She said the inclusion of different communities was intended to reinforce the message that Naivas considers Kenya as one large home made up of different cultures and traditions.

“Every community you see represented here was curated in partnership with the Museums of Kenya, Kisumu, together with advisors from those communities,” Saronge said.

She added that the campaign was built around the idea that home should accommodate people from different cultural backgrounds.

The Kisumu celebration featured three major experiences — the Ni Kwetu Marketplace, Taste of Ni Kwetu and the Grand Finale — bringing together culture, business, food and entertainment.

Local suppliers take centre stage

At the Ni Kwetu Marketplace, regional and national suppliers showcased their products and interacted directly with customers.

The marketplace provided an opportunity for homegrown businesses to demonstrate their products while benefiting from the reach of Naivas’ national retail network.

Local producers and suppliers sampled a variety of products, allowing consumers to experience the connection between local production and the products available on Naivas shelves.

The initiative highlighted the role of supermarkets in creating market opportunities for local enterprises and linking producers with consumers beyond their immediate communities.

Culture meets food at Naivas Fresh

The Taste of Ni Kwetu experience brought food to the centre of the cultural celebration, with guests treated to a variety of traditional dishes prepared to reflect the region’s diverse culinary traditions.

The experience was anchored on Naivas Fresh, allowing the retailer to showcase its fresh-food proposition through locally sourced ingredients and regional dishes.

The food experience also provided a practical demonstration of the connection between culture, agriculture, local suppliers and retail, with guests able to experience traditional cuisine while sampling products associated with Naivas’ fresh supply chain.

Eleven communities unite for grand finale

The event culminated in a joint cultural performance involving all the participating communities.

The high-energy finale provided a symbolic conclusion to the quarter-long campaign, bringing together different traditions on one platform under the message of many cultures, one home and one Naivas.

Naivas said the Kisumu celebration was also intended to demonstrate its continued engagement with communities and suppliers in Western Kenya.

The company noted that its fresh-sourcing networks and supplier partnerships in the region contribute to local livelihoods while supporting the wider supply chain that supplies fresh products to customers across the country.

Naivas: Culture and commerce go hand in hand

Naivas Chief Executive Officer Andreas von Palseke said the “Naivas Ni Kwetu” campaign was designed to turn the company’s customer promise into a visible and practical experience.

“Naivas Ni Kwetu is our promise made visible. When a customer walks into any of our stores in Kisumu, in Nairobi, in Mombasa, anywhere, they should feel that the store understands the home they come from,” von Palseke said.

He added that the Kisumu celebration provided an opportunity for the wider Naivas organisation to experience the cultural identity of the community it serves.

“Today, Kisumu taught the whole company what that feels like. We are deeply honoured to be guests of this community,” he said.

Naivas Chief Commercial Officer Jorsen Patten said the company viewed culture and commerce as closely connected, noting that the marketplace demonstrated how local products could gain access to a wider national consumer base.

“Culture and commerce are not competing agendas, they are the same agenda,” Patten said.

He said the presence of regional and national suppliers at the event reflected Naivas’ commercial approach of combining local sourcing with a national retail platform.

The Kisumu Cultural Day forms part of Naivas’ broader FY2027 Q1 “Naivas Ni Kwetu” campaign, which seeks to position the retailer as a business that understands and reflects the diverse communities that make up Kenya.

The campaign’s Kisumu finale brought together culture, food, business and entertainment in a single platform, while highlighting the retailer’s relationships with local suppliers and its growing footprint across different parts of the country.