KENYA · GUIDE 0006 · EDITION 4.2
How to Sell Spring Onions to Kitchens and Vegetable Stalls
Offer a specific product, not just “spring onions”
Approach kitchens using fresh onion or garnish and vegetable stalls that already sell the product. Ask the buyer to distinguish its preferred bunching onion from any other crop it describes with the same name. Obtain competent confirmation of the planting material before promising your own harvest.
A suggested first question is: “Do you require roots included, trimmed or removed, and how many stalks make the bunch you normally buy?” This is proposed wording, not a completed customer interview. Ask when the buyer receives stock and who can approve a trial order.
Make the sample and order comparable
| Item to agree | What the farmer records |
|---|---|
| Crop | Named, identified product and source of the sample |
| Preparation | Root and outer-leaf treatment and visible condition |
| Bunch | Stalk count or weight, aligned length and ties |
| Display | Whether customers can compare quantity without opening the bunch |
| Delivery | Quantity, receiving window and authorized contact |
| Returns and payment | Rejection reason, unsold stock, price and due date |
Ask a stallholder to place properly identified trial bunches beside existing stock and observe how they are compared. With permission, record the approved bunch beside a simple ruler and note the buyer’s comments after normal display. A sample sourced from another grower should be identified as such; it does not establish your own field capacity.
Follow through on the actual sale
Keep enquiries, sample assessments, confirmed orders, accepted deliveries, returns and money collected as separate records. If customers select only the fullest-looking bundles, investigate trimming, alignment and the retailer’s display before simply reducing price. Ask whether the preferred bunch is defined by count, weight or appearance, then revise the written offer.
Do not publish a customer name, photograph or comment as a testimonial without permission. Avoid claims of food-safety certification, verified yield or guaranteed daily income that the farm has not established. The FAO reference supplies general green-onion handling context, not proof of local demand or safety for a specific route.
Expand the route after the first agreement can be met at an acceptable measured cost and payment timing. One stall’s preference is useful evidence for that stall; it is not automatically the preference of every kitchen or market.