KENYA · GUIDE 0126 · EDITION 4.2
Roasted maize stand in Kenya: Customers and Market Demand
The buyer and the buying decision
Passing commuters and market visitors. The offer to test is: Roast maize for immediate sale at an authorized stand.
Choose roasted maize stock and a portion description for the stand's observed passing trade, deciding how customers will see and select the cob they buy.
Separate interest from an accepted order
Count footfall and sales during one permitted selling period.
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 purchase lot, usable cob count, roasting batches, sales timing and leftover reasons, linking customer texture comments to the actual maize source used that selling day.
| Question to resolve | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| What exactly will the buyer accept? | Ask buyers to assess ordinary cobs from the service batch, noting eating texture, roast consistency and whether the chosen portion feels fair relative to visible alternatives. |
| What is included in the first trial? | Choose roasted maize stock and a portion description for the stand's observed passing trade, deciding how customers will see and select the cob they buy. |
| How will a prospect see the offer? | Choose a lawful location based on observed buyers rather than general road traffic. |
| What must happen before repeating the trial? | Agree price for an observable cob size and keep fuel or dust away from served food. |
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 busy-looking fire does not establish demand when too many cobs roast ahead of customers, leaving stock that no longer matches the fresh product promised verbally.
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 evening roasted-maize stand: buy sixty identified fresh cobs, reject six, roast fifty-four and sell fifty whole-cob orders, leaving four recorded unsold. Offer plain roasted maize; salt/chilli optional only if separately declared and safely dispensed. No raw garnish or butter in base order. Cooking uses a competent approved method and a lawful safe site/fuel setup; visible char is not a food-safety endpoint.
| Buyer discussion | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| Specification to confirm | Half cobs are not sold as whole orders and mixed cob sizes remain visible. |
| Output to inspect | 60=6 reject+50 sold+4 unsold; cash count uses sold cobs only. |
| Failure that can defeat acceptance | Cobs scorch before cooked |
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
Competent cook reviews approved heat/cooking method. 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.