By Edna Mwende
Peter Njonjo who recently served at Coca-Cola as the President of Coca-Cola’s West and Central Africa business has been appointed as the CEO of Twiga Foods.
Mr. Njonjo who has worked for Coca-Cola for 21 years is a Co-Founder of Twiga Foods is set to take up the role of CEO from Grant Brooke who is also a co-founder of the Kenyan start-up.
Grant has been leading Twiga Foods for the past five years since it was founded and despite the takeover, Grant is expected to retain an executive role in the company.
According to the Standard newspaper, Brooke said, “Starting new ventures is really my skill-set and passion, while proficiently running institutions is Peter’s skill-set and passion. Twiga has an aggressive growth plan and this transition leverages on our respective expertise.”
Twiga Foods is a business that delivers fresh produce to small-scale retailers, like mama mbogas, and finances small-to-medium-scale farmers who grow and supply the company with produce.
The firm has signed up over 17,000 farmers spread out in 20 counties to supply produce that the mobile-based start-up then resells to a network of 2,500 retailers. All the firm’s transactions are mobile-based, according to reports by the Business Daily.
Peter Njonjo, 42, told the Business Daily his vision is to create “more efficient food markets in Africa and improved food security”.
Through their mobile platform, a vendor can order stock for delivery within 24 hours. The firm runs a logistics infrastructure that includes trucks, refrigerated warehouses, depots and sales teams, according to reports by the Business Daily.
On how Coca-Cola feels about Mr Njonjo exit; Mr. Nikos Koumettis, the Coca-Cola Group President for Europe, Middle East and Africa said: “We support Peter’s decision to use his leadership skills in solving a significant social issue that cripples the economies of many African countries.”
Twiga Foods is expected to face competition from major supermarkets that have invested heavily in the sale of fresh farm produce and from smaller mobile-based logistics companies that deliver goods to the doorstep.
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