Enric Farm Fresh, an online farmer’s market in Nairobi is targeting busy office and home consumers in the city to cash in local markets which provides huge horticulture produce sales as compared to export markets to offer direct market to smallholder farmers in the country.
According to a 2015 study report on Fresh Vegetables Market in Kenya by Research Solutions Africa (RSA) Ltd, what producers cannot sell to buyers at farm gate is usually consumed at the household level or sold in small quantities in local markets. In some cases, this can cause considerable losses for farmers who are poorly connected to buyers and markets.
“Farmers have little to no knowledge regarding consumer preferences, or quality grading standards. This is why we started the company with a passion for local farming to link farmers to homes and businesses consumers by offering home and office delivery services,” said Mr. Erick, COO and Co-founder of Enric Farm Fresh.
This comes at a time the RSA report also indicates that about 95 per cent of horticultural production goes to the domestic market and five per cent to the export market, a good indication that smallholders who form the bulk of horticulture producers have a wider market potential to explore.
However, producers generally have limited access to price information and therefore little bargaining power with buyers. Enric Farm Fresh, therefore, exists to bridge this gap for the farmers it works with.
“We carefully source each and every last bite from our contracted farmers and deliver to consumer’s door each week, with recyclable and returnable packaging,” said Erick.
These fresh produce include fruits and vegetables.
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Enric Farm Fresh’s concept of an online farmer’s market began with a vision to find an efficient way to bring super fresh, natural food from farms in their own area to busy people who work all week and don’t have time to get to their farmer’s market at the same time empowering smallholder farmers in rural areas.
In this, the company enables customers shop for their fresh produce right online at the comfort of their homes or offices and have them delivered to them anywhere in Nairobi
To woo its customers, the firm allows menu changes weekly according to what is fresh, local, and in-season. With this, a customer gets more control of what goes in shopping box, and they can make up to five substitutions in every delivery.
There is also chance for consumers to customize their schedule months ahead of time.
Enric Farm Fresh can be reached on +254 700 021 630 or sales@enricfarmfresh.co.ke