KENYA – Greenspoon Ltd, Kenya’s first online food store to offer full transparency to its customers around the source of their food, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from a consortium of Dutch investors, headed by The Blue Link.
The lead investor- The Blue Link, also has interests in some of Kenya’s leading food processing companies to include: Highlands Drinks, Bio Food Products and Maxim Agri.
The growth capital which will be channelled towards expansion of the business, comes at an opportune time as the Greenspoon is currently celebrating its 5th anniversary.
Over the past 5 years of operations, the company has shown strong organic growth but found itself constrained in terms of space and logistics capacity.
This was propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic with more consumers turning to online channels to conveniently source for groceries and essentials.
Food and grocery delivery services are becoming a mainstream offering in urban Kenya, with a significant rise in first-time users of online services in 2020.
Many of the delivery services were borne out of both consumers and businesses adjusting their behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic, where restrictions and demand-side risks meant businesses could not rely on brick-and-motor.
Following the exponential growth, Greenspoon moved from its former small location, to a warehouse in Regen, Kikuyu, improving connectivity across Nairobi and upcountry.
To this end, the financial boost will be used to fund warehousing & logistics capacity, build new online technology for improved customer experience, and increase sustainability.
Other than growing the business, the company is also focused on implementing increased solar power generation and use of electric mobility to further reduce its carbon footprint.
“Customers can expect excellent service, same day delivery and Kenya’s widest assortment of high-quality products.
“We pride ourselves on listing Kenya’s best quality artisan products, and our ambition is to double our assortment with the most delicious, local, organic and artisan products,” says Greenspoon’s founder, Juliet Kennedy.
Currently Greenspoon is working with many larger and smaller producers in Kenya, such as Bila Shaka Brewery, Bio Food Products, Brown’s Cheese, Farmer Max Chicken, Grounded and The Well Hung Butcher to name a few, and welcomes applications from producers to collaborate.
“We see a really exciting opportunity to build our business with technology that makes online shopping simple, and delights our customers.’ she said. Part of the growth plan is to provide 300 high quality jobs over the coming 5 years,” said Juliet.
As part of Greenspoon’s growth plan, Alexander Osinga, former COO of Bio Food Products, joins the business to manage operations and Aleeda Fazal, founder of software development agency Digital Tangent to oversee the technology growth.
Juliet Kennedy will continue managing Greenspoon, now focusing more on customers, products, and marketing.
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