How Twiga Foods Made it to TIME’s List of 100 Most Influential Companies in 2022
How Twiga Foods Made it to TIME’s List of 100 Most Influential Companies in 2022 Congratulations Twiga Foods for earning your place as one of the 100 most influential companies in the world.
World-renowned TIME magazine released its list of 100 most influential companies and Kenyan startup Twiga Foods was one of the only two Kenyan startups that were included in that list. This is no mean feat because Twiga is listed among a list of global heavyweights.
How TIME chooses the most influential companies
When TIME is qualifying the companies that get into the 100 most influential list, they look at impact. They solicit nominations across various sectors in the world such as technology, health, entertainment, and others all over the world. They have a network of correspondents, editors, and industry experts across the globe who come up with this data.
“Then we evaluate each on key factors, including relevance, impact, innovation, leadership, ambition, and success,” writes TIME.
How Twiga Foods made it to the list
Twiga Foods was founded in 2014 by Peter Njonjo, a Co-founder and the current CEO of the tech startup, and Grant Brooke who is a co-founder and the former CEO. Twiga identified the niche in Kenya’s informal grocery market.
Due to intermediaries and inefficient production, in Kenya, the cost is $420 (Ksh 49,329) for a tonne of tomatoes. Consumers are spending close to 50% of their disposable income on food.
Twiga is building an alternative system that aims to generate the same results as the modernization of retail in the more developed markets. They are doing this by leveraging technology and the ubiquity of mobile phones. Moreover, they’ve combined them with modern distribution and logistics to aggregate consumer demand and start building more efficient supply chains,” writes Twiga.
Their disruptive business model brings value to customers thereby lowering the cost of food significantly. They enable their vendors to access 48hrs interest-free credit which enables them to bargain food prices with local farmers. As a result, the customer gets the best prices for food in an informal market.
Twiga’s founders were motivated by the fact that the average Kenyan household spends 50% of its income on food. The prices of food are high because of middlemen and insufficient production. A ton of tomatoes costs $420 (Ksh 49,224) while in the United States it goes for $100 (Ksh 11,735).
Twiga is growing some of its fastest-selling products such as tomatoes, onions, watermelons, and others. So that they can make things easier for customers and vendors by lowering the food prices.
TIME grouped Twiga Foods among the category of disruptors with the headline, Cheaper Staples. Twiga is recognized by TIME as a disruptor among famous global players such as TikTok (Viral Sensation), the Kim Kardashian-owned SKIMS (Intimates for every body type), entertainment company AMC Entertainment Holdings (Meme-stock mastery), Nairobi-based Kenyan-Swedish motor company Opibus (A cleaner way to get around cities) among others.
There were five categories for TIME’s 100 most influential companies. They are as follows:
- Pioneers such as Kaling International, Wonderschool, and Trek Bicycle
- Innovators like Rivian, Grammarly, Joro, Moderna, Wyze, and others
- Titans such as Alphabet, Pfizer, Amazon, Netflix, and Ford among others
- Disruptors such as Opibus, Twiga Foods, Shein, and Divvy Homes among others.
- Leaders such as Hybe, Spotify, Airbnb, Upwork, and Sony among others
Twiga has always been a pacesetter for the tech space in Kenya and has been leading the pack in terms of innovations to keep improving its services. They have innovative products such as Sokolytics, Soko Yetu, Twiga Agent, Soko call, and Sokobot (Twiggy). These are all designed to ease the process for both customers and vendors, thereby reducing costs and saving time for parties involved.
Last year Twiga announced a Series C fundraising round of about $50 million (Ksh5.86 billion) which they plan to use to roll out low-cost manufactured food and non-food products under its brand.
Congratulations Twiga for earning your place as one of the 100 most influential companies in the world.