Twiga Foods, the Kenyan startup that delivers fruits and vegetable to customers is obviously trying to squeeze out every business opportunity occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic. It has partnered with African e-commerce giant Jumia Kenya to further expand their distribution capacities in the wake of movement restrictions as part of measures taken to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“Our partnership with Twiga will allow customers to shop on Jumia for the fruits and vegetables they need. We are offering same-day free delivery on the platform in Nairobi. And will save customers money as Twiga cuts out the middlemen by buying directly from smallholder farmers across the country,” said Sam Chappatte, Jumia Kenya’s chief executive.
Here Is All You Need To Know
- The distribution deal will allow online shoppers to order for fresh farm produce and processed foodstuffs from Twiga Foods on Jumia’s platform.
- Pre-packed bundles will cost between Sh1,230 to Sh3,180 ($12 to $30) and consist of items such as watermelon, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, bananas, maize meal and processed milk.
- The partnership will leverage on Twiga’s existing infrastructure and Jumia’s extensive e-commerce platform and logistics network to make home deliveries across Nairobi’s suburbs.
- Twiga has depots in Dagoretti, Donholm, Embakasi, Thome, Ruaka, Kaloleni, Nairobi West, Syokimau, Waiyaki Way and Kilimani.
- Twiga Foods sources farm produce from more than 15,000 producers and delivers to over 5,000 retailers a day.
- The firms said that by bringing their capabilities together, they aim to offer an unrivalled delivery service for food, providing fresh, high quality products directly to people’s homes across Nairobi.
“Our vision as a company has been to lower the amount of money consumers are spending on food. Through this partnership, we will pass on to consumers the price benefit of sourcing directly from farmers and food manufacturers. Case in point is our Twiga Fresh bundle that offers a 50 percent discount to the prevailing market prices,” said Twiga Food Chief Executive Officer Mr Peter Njonjo.
Read Also: Lessons Twiga Foods Has Taught Startups About Disrupting Africa’s Food Supply Chain
A Look At What Twiga Foods Does
Twiga Foods is going after the Kenyan food sector to break the jinx of inefficiencies presently in the sector, and to ensure that the limited resources available in Kenya’s agricultural sector are well-utilised.
Its simple business model is to aggregate all food retailers and dealers, from the banana vendors buying in bulk to the avocado retailers selling in stock, and then connecting them to Kenyan farmers producing quality farm produce. This is a classic example of a business-to-business (B2B) model, so that vendors looking to purchase agricultural produce don’t have to travel miles to meet local producers of the produce, thereby saving them the transportation and logistics cost, increasing the productivity and demand for the produce of the farmers, at the same time reducing food waste.
These metrics are what TLCom Capital looked out for when it invested in Twiga Foods.
“TLcom’s general investment thesis for Africa is that given the high penetration of mobile, there are very large markets where demand is already proven and technology can play a true role in offering a superior value proposition over existing solutions,” said Ido Sum, partner at TLCom Capital which syndicated Twiga Foods’ recent $30 million fund raising led by Goldman Sachs.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.