Business
Offering Homestyle African Cuisine, Kune is Changing the Face of Kenya’s Food Delivery Sector By John Njiraini
NAIROBI IS WITNESSING an explosion of lastmile food and grocery delivery. For employees in offices and families at home, ordering a meal has become commonplace. One issue, however, is lack of choice. “People have been ordering fast food because they don’t have an option,” Faith Mwendia, managing director of Kune, told AFN. In recent months, the Kenyan food delivery startup has been researching the market. It learned that a majority of office workers want a homemade, well-balanced meal that comes at an affordable price rather than fast food. But no-one was offering such a service at scale. “We saw a big gap in last-mile delivery of tasty African cuisine. This is a market we want to serve,” Mwendia said. In January, Kune began commercial operations after investing in tech-driven facilities that give it “total control” of the supply chain from sourcing and cooking to ordering and delivery. Last year it raised $1 million in pre-seed funding from investors including Launch Africa, Century Oak Capital, and Pariti that was used to develop technological capabilities including online and mobile apps, hire employees, grow its network of local suppliers, and construct an operations hub including a kitchen and packaging facility. 8
March-April 2022
It’s now in the midst of raising a seed round to increase production capacity and build a national footprint over the next two years, before embarking on Africa-wide expansion. As an early entrant, Kune sees vast opportunity in offering Kenyans “fresher and healthier” meal options at affordable prices (its meals sell for around $3 each on average.) ‘We’re a company that champions local’ A 2020 analysis by market insights firm Fitch Solutions showed that Kenya’s food delivery sector is primed for rapid expansion, driven by consumers and businesses adjusting their behavior due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a growing middle class, and high internet penetration rates. Other factors include significant growth in the use of mobile digital payments, a road network that is well developed and well-connected, and a thriving and vibrant industry around motorcycle taxis — colloquially known as ‘boda-boda’ by the local population — that’s “well-positioned to pivot their services towards the growing demand for last mile delivery solutions,” notes the Fitch analysis. This conducive environment has given rise to a flourishing sector, with firms like Uber Eats, Jumia Food, Glovo, Bolt Food, and Yum among others championing its growth. Kune has come in with a totally different concept. DAWN
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