KENYA · GUIDE 0869 · EDITION 4.2
Ceramic mug making in Kenya: Customers and Market Demand
The buyer and the buying decision
cafes and gift buyers The offer to test is: Ceramic mugs made to a repeatable shape and finish
Define mugs by usable capacity, handle comfort, surface finish, and intended food contact, arranging competent verification rather than assuming decorative ceramic materials suit drinking vessels.
Separate interest from an accepted order
Make a test batch through competent firing and food-contact checks
The purpose of this test is to establish whether the buyer accepts the specified result, delivery arrangement and payment terms. An encouraging interview does not establish repeat demand. Ask what the buyer currently uses, what would make them change supplier and who has authority to approve the first order. Record a refusal as carefully as an enquiry so that unsuccessful offers do not disappear from the evidence.
Collect evidence specific to this offer
Keep clay and glaze references, sample dimensions, firing outcomes, defects, competent verification results, packing damage, and user feedback about holding and pouring from the mug.
| Question to resolve | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| What exactly will the buyer accept? | Inspect complete fired samples for cracks, handle attachment, stability, and glaze defects, using appropriate verified requirements before accepting claims about food contact or cleaning performance. |
| What is included in the first trial? | Define mugs by usable capacity, handle comfort, surface finish, and intended food contact, arranging competent verification rather than assuming decorative ceramic materials suit drinking vessels. |
| How will a prospect see the offer? | Show cafes verified sample mugs, documented clay and glaze information and evidence that dimensions and finish can be repeated. |
| What must happen before repeating the trial? | No cracks or sharp glaze defects; food-contact suitability verified |
Decide whether to continue
Review the specification with the buyer before committing to tools or stock. A trial is commercially useful only if actual costs, rejected work, time spent and cash collected can be reconciled. An appealing unfired shape may produce inconsistent handles or glaze defects after firing, so accepting orders from an unfinished sample can undermine delivery promises substantially.
If a buyer changes the required output, record a new scope and re-cost the test. Do not count a request for a different product as proof of demand for the original one. Keep personal contact details in your private records and use customer statements publicly only with permission.
Turn the example into a buyer test
Fictional pottery development batch: hand-build eight mug forms with a target finished capacity near 250 ml, subject to clay shrinkage and a qualified ceramic studio’s validation. A draft slab wall is 300 × 110 × 5 mm with about 10 mm overlap, paired with an approximately 100 mm base blank and one maker-sized handle. These are wet construction dimensions, not a food-safety specification. Finished drinking mugs must not be sold until the clay/glaze/firing combination and applicable food-contact requirements have been competently assessed.
| Buyer discussion | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| Specification to confirm | An AP craft-material label or a glaze described as food safe does not by itself validate your finished mug. |
| Output to inspect | Do not claim dishwasher, microwave or thermal-shock performance from one successful fill with water. |
| Failure that can defeat acceptance | Handle cracks at the join |
Ask the buyer to describe one acceptable and one unacceptable result. Record the decision maker, price basis, quantity, handover point and payment date privately. A sample request, an encouraging conversation and an accepted order are different evidence. Keep the first commitment within your demonstrated capacity; no customer interview or successful trial is asserted here.
What a failed test should change
Inspect moisture timing, attachment method and shrinkage specimens with the potter.. If the offer cannot meet that check, revise the specification or process before promising a repeat. Keep rejected offers and reasons in the same register as positive replies so that your record does not exaggerate demand.