Tushop
Lowering food prices and employing Community Leaders
How does it work?
Tushop uses community leaders, who collect orders from their neighbours and support last-mile deliveries. Each community leader has a virtual shop where the neighbours place their orders, which Tushop aggregates for bulk orders to manufacturers or other producers, like farmers. According to the company's CEO Cathy Chepkemboi, this arrangement earns shoppers up to 60% in savings, even with the agents earning sales commissions.
Why is it needed?
Tushop was born in 2021 to give more value to communities with their groceries by lowering food prices while simultaneously offering opportunities for Community Leaders to make additional income. According to Tushop, Kenyans spend 46% of their income on food, while Americans spend only 6%. Their purpose is to enable Kenyans (and eventually Africans) to spend no more than 10% of their income on food while helping Community Leaders with additional income. While working at Unilever in Kenya, the future CEO saw the fragmentation in Kenya’s retail sector with logistics being one of the challenges that led to the high cost of essential goods in the country.
How does it improve life?
Tushop currently operates in Nairobi, Kenya. In March 2022, the company raised $3 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by 4DX Ventures. They plan to grow their business in Nairobi further, before expanding to the rest of the country.