By Miyanda Katiwa
Until I boldly went to a supermarket and asked how I could
be part of their suppliers of vegetable I had the
misconception that they don't support small scale farmers.
I scheduled a meeting before I even planted anything so that I
could first understand what they needed, the quality and if
possible see physically the quality on their shelves.
I wanted
to understand the quantities that they needed and how
often.
After a really good meeting Foodlovers Market East
Park and garden city gave me a list of what they needed.
Armed with the specifications I bought seed, prepared
seedlings and planted. What is also important to them is the
packaging and labels so with the little money I had I got all
the packaging material, printed labels, bought a sealer and
in no time I was delivering to Foodlovers.
8 steps to take if you want to start supplying farm fresh produce to Supermarkets include:-
1. Quality is important, pay attention to quality.
2. Consistent supply, they will call at anytime for product, be
consistent.
3. Get your branding done, your farm name and logo and
labels, invoice and receipt books.
4. Deliver on time.
5. Plant your crops in stages so that you never run out of
products.
6. They pay after 30 days so always have crops you take to
them but also crops you take to Soweto market because Soweto market gives you daily cash flow that you need to
run your farm.
7. Start small even if you deliver 50 heads of lettuce in no
time they will be asking for 200 heads Avery 3 days.
8. If you don't have product when they call rather than say
you don't have contact a member on this group who may
have the product, make sure the quality is good and do a
joint supply.
Super markets want to support local farmers, they do
support us only challenge is we are not always. Consistent
and we don't pay attention to detail and quality.
Give it a go, I wish you all the best. Image credit: Miyanda Katiwa.
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About the Author:
Miyanda Katiwa is a Farmer. She owns
Pamushana Farm, Zambia's leading
producer of a comprehensive range of
vegetable seedlings.
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