Grant Brooke and Twiga Foods’ Effort to Modernise Food Distribution

Food distribution is one of the most practical challenges facing African cities. Farmers and food vendors can operate in fragmented supply chains, with limited storage, uncertain demand and multiple intermediaries affecting prices and losses. Twiga Foods was founded in Kenya to improve the connection between agricultural producers and informal retailers, using technology and organised logistics to coordinate supply.

Co-founder Grant Brooke’s work at Twiga Foods is an example of entrepreneurship focused on the movement of everyday goods rather than a purely digital service. Retailers need reliable access to products in appropriate quantities, while producers need dependable buyers and predictable collection arrangements. Better coordination can create value, but only if it works consistently in the field.

Food supply chains are difficult to standardise. Demand changes by neighbourhood and season, products can spoil quickly, and transport and storage costs influence margins. A platform must forecast demand carefully, manage quality and keep delivery economics workable for suppliers and retailers alike.

The business model also depends on trust. Vendors need confidence that products will arrive as ordered and that prices are transparent. Farmers need clear payment terms and buyers who can handle produce reliably. A technology system can improve information flow, but operational discipline remains essential.

Twiga’s experience reflects a wider opportunity for African founders: improve the infrastructure around existing commerce. In many markets, small retailers and producers are already serving customers. The innovation may lie in making their supply chains more dependable, reducing waste or helping participants plan purchases and sales with better information.

The challenge is to show that efficiency gains are shared across the chain and that a company can maintain margins as it expands. Founders in food distribution must track delivery performance, spoilage, repeat purchasing and supplier outcomes, not just transaction volume.

Sources: Twiga Foods’ official website, https://twiga.com/; World Bank resources on food systems, https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/agriculture