Twiga Foods diversifies to rice supplies on demand

Agri-tech company Twiga Foods is diversifying into rice distribution as demand rises among retailers.

The start-up, which currently supplies fruits, cooking oil and snacks through a mobile-based platform has added Soko Yetu rice brand to its portfolio, with a 25 kilo retailing at Sh1,970.

This comes at a time when Kenya’s national rice consumption is estimated at 500,000 metric tonnes per year with an annual growth rate of 12 percent, highlighting the demand of the product, according to the National Rice Development Strategy-2 (2019-2030).

“Rice is one of the highest consumed commodities. It is not necessarily driven by surge in demand but our desire to fulfil the promise of delivering highest quality at an affordable price,” Twiga East Africa chief executive officer Yebeltal Getachew said.

The short pishori grain rice will be sourced from Tanzania.

“Rice is just one of our products we plan to introduce more products under our Soko Yetu Brand to fulfil the promise,” the CEO added.

This comes at a time when the firm plans to expand to the East African West African regions as it seeks to grow its market share on the continent.

Only last month, the company’s Board of Directors initiated changes on top management to oversee the expansion.