Our Story
From four generations of winemaking in Houston to a new chapter in Kenya, Water2Wine is a journey of family heritage, Kenyan fruit, people, and the purpose to build something that matters.
As the vision grew, I was joined by my co-founder, Shani Brew, who now serves as Chief Strategy Officer. With a background in finance and business strategy, Shani brought another perspective to what we were building—helping shape the company's strategic direction and preparing Water2Wine for growth. Together, we began turning an idea into a shared mission, one that would ultimately be brought to life by the talented team we were building in Kenya.
I didn’t come to Kenya simply to start a wine company. I came here to build something that mattered.
I’m a fourth-generation winemaker from Houston, Texas. Winemaking has been part of my family’s story for generations, but entrepreneurship became part of mine. After years of building businesses in America, I found myself asking a different question: What could I build if I took everything I had learned, everything my family had passed down to me, and brought it somewhere filled with possibility?
​
That question eventually brought me more than 8,000 miles from Houston to Nairobi—and started a journey I could never have completely planned.
I wasn’t looking for somewhere to escape. I was looking for somewhere to build.
I wanted an environment where my ideas, experience and determination had an opportunity to speak for themselves. In Kenya, I discovered something I wasn’t expecting: people who welcomed the vision, an entrepreneurial energy that inspired me, and an incredible diversity of fruits that challenged everything I thought wine could be.
​
I began to see the possibility of combining generations of winemaking knowledge with something distinctly Kenyan. Not recreating what had already been done somewhere else—but building something new, right here in Nairobi.
​
Kenya wasn't simply where I decided to locate Water2Wine. Kenya became part of its identity.
.png)
Four generations of winemaking. No grapes. A completely new chapter.
I brought my family’s winemaking heritage to Kenya, but I didn’t come here to reproduce traditional grape wine. Kenya gave us an opportunity to reimagine the craft entirely.
We work with fruits like strawberry, banana, mango, plum, raspberry, blueberry, coconut and many others—transforming familiar fruits into bold, unexpected wines.
​
The knowledge may have been passed down through generations, but what we're creating today belongs to this generation.
​
My family gave me the foundation. Kenya gave us the opportunity to build something extraordinary with it.
Somewhere along this journey, I realized Water2Wine couldn't simply be about what I could build in Kenya. It had to become about what we could build together.
​
That realization changed my vision for the company.
Today, Kenyan professionals are helping lead our operations, make our wines, develop our brand, serve our customers and shape where this company goes next. We're developing people, creating opportunities and building an organization designed to become greater than its founder.
Our purpose is simple:
We provide opportunities to Kenyans.
Every bottle represents more than fruit transformed into wine. It represents people being given an opportunity to learn, lead, create and build something they can proudly say was made in Kenya.
This isn't a success story I'm telling you after everything worked out.
We're still building it.
We're still creating wines. Still developing people. Still opening doors. Still making mistakes, learning, improving and discovering what's possible.
​
My journey started in Houston. It brought me to Nairobi. And now we're working toward something much bigger: building a company born in Kenya, powered by Kenyan talent and crafted from Kenyan fruit that can one day stand proudly on tables around the world.
​
I don't know exactly where this journey will ultimately take us.
But I know why we're building.
This is more than wine. This is purpose. And we're just getting started.
— Chris Rhodes
Founder & CEO, Water2Wine Kenya
