Twiga Foods, the Kenya-based online distribution platform, has launched a new private label brand. The new brand, SokoYetu, will be used for private label bags of long grain rice sold by the retailer.

Twiga’s online store is also called Soko Yetu (our store in Swahili). The new long grain rice brand will be sourced from Tanzania’s Kapunga area. Distributor private label for commodity products such as rice, sugar, flour and edible oils is not a new thing, least of all in Kenya.

However, the development is an important milestone for Twiga Foods. It represents a statement of intent that the online distribution platform is prepared to develop its own brands. This also makes sense structurally: Twiga Foods also markets itself on its social impact. In this case, the private label rice supports Tanzanian farmers.

The development of further private label products offers the opportunity to add more value to products at the point of processing or manufacturing. As a basic example: if peanut farmers can process their crop into peanut butter, they can retain a large share of revenue of the final product. In this case, Twiga Foods offers a distribution channel and brand for regional farmers.