KENYA · GUIDE 0013 · EDITION 4.2
Carrot growing - Operations, capacity and quality
Deliver the agreed result consistently
Separate carrots for whole-root retail from carrots intended for chopping or cooking, giving usable irregular roots a deliberate buyer rather than treating them as waste.
The operating sequence for this offer is:
- Agree washed or unwashed carrot presentation and the size range required, then prepare separate grading containers before lifting the crop.
- Lift and sort without hiding cut, forked, split or rotten roots; record the weight of each grade and the handling labour.
- State the supplied grade on the dispatch note, avoid transport damage and compare the buyer's accepted weight with the farm record.
Put acceptance into the job record
Do not conceal splits or rotten roots within a sack; specify whether sold washed or unwashed.
Ask a buyer to grade unselected trial roots and identify which shape defects affect their intended preparation and which merely change the suitable sales channel.
Inspect at the point where a correction is still possible, then again at handover. Record rejected or incomplete output separately from accepted output. A completed task is not automatically an accepted task, and an invoice does not establish that the customer received the right result.
Measure real capacity
Time preparation, the main operation, transport, cleaning, approvals and correction as applicable. The slowest stage determines how much you can promise. Where two orders need the same person, space or equipment at the same time, resolve the conflict before confirming both deadlines. An additional enquiry should not erase a commitment already made.
| Operating checkpoint | Evidence for this business |
|---|---|
| Before starting | Separate carrots for whole-root retail from carrots intended for chopping or cooking, giving usable irregular roots a deliberate buyer rather than treating them as waste. |
| During delivery | Lift and sort without hiding cut, forked, split or rotten roots; record the weight of each grade and the handling labour. |
| At acceptance | Ask a buyer to grade unselected trial roots and identify which shape defects affect their intended preparation and which merely change the suitable sales channel. |
| At the pilot review | Track root shapes by bed section, harvest damage, preparation work and buyer-assigned grade so the next planting improves the causes of rejection actually observed locally. |
Keep a correction and escalation rule
When inputs, access, specifications or customer instructions change, pause the affected work and confirm the effect on time and cost. Do not quietly lower the acceptance standard to avoid a delayed delivery. Keep rework caused by your error distinct from a customer-requested change of scope and agree the remedy clearly.
The enterprise loses margin when aggressive cleaning makes roots look attractive initially but damages their presentation before the customer can display or prepare them normally.
Retain the minimum records needed to investigate a complaint without disclosing unrelated personal information. Use measured delivery and actual acceptance as the basis for expanding capacity, rather than the maximum theoretical output of a tool or production line.