KENYA · GUIDE 0008 · EDITION 4.2
Lettuce growing in Kenya: Customers and Market Demand
The buyer and the buying decision
Sandwich shops and salad kitchens. The offer to test is: Grow lettuce for restaurants with a defined head or leaf specification.
Choose a lettuce format that fits one restaurant's dishes, distinguishing whole heads for portioning from loose leaves intended for assembled salads during busy service.
Separate interest from an accepted order
Ask two chefs to accept or reject sample heads before expanding planting.
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
Record head weights, usable leaf yield, plating feedback and the number of heads the chef actually uses during a service before scheduling successive plantings.
| Question to resolve | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| What exactly will the buyer accept? | Ask the chef to separate a sample into usable leaves and trim, then assess how the remaining leaves behave in the restaurant's usual plated dish. |
| What is included in the first trial? | Choose a lettuce format that fits one restaurant's dishes, distinguishing whole heads for portioning from loose leaves intended for assembled salads during busy service. |
| How will a prospect see the offer? | Ask chefs about accepted varieties, quantities and delivery conditions rather than promising year-round supply. |
| What must happen before repeating the trial? | Leaves must meet the buyer's cleanliness and freshness checks; this brief does not validate raw-food safety. |
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. A restaurant may reject attractive oversized heads when its portions leave excessive remnants, so head appearance alone does not establish the commercial product specification.
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 lettuce agreement: a sandwich shop preorders 24 whole romaine-type heads for Tuesday and another 24 for Friday, inspected as intact produce that the kitchen will wash and prepare. The buyer specifies leaf type, minimum usable head weight and rejection of browned hearts. Do not sell this as washed ready-to-eat salad. Deliver twelve heads per shallow crate with harvest block and date. The shop records usable leaves per head during its paid pilot so the grower learns whether whole-head pricing fits the sandwich operation.
| Buyer discussion | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| Specification to confirm | Write the approved lettuce type and photograph; a generic green-leaf substitute needs buyer consent. |
| Output to inspect | Record heads bought, usable leaves and preparation waste against the same lot before expanding weekly supply. |
| Failure that can defeat acceptance | Bitter leaves and rising central stem |
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
Compare source block maturity and recent conditions with adviser support. 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.