The Online Commodity Exchange Limited Commercial Kitchen Information Manual

Content What is The Online Commodity Exchange (TOCE) Who is a commercial kitchen? What does TOCE do for the Commercial Kitchen? How does the commercial kitchen use TOCE? What does it cost the commercial kitchen to use TOCE? How does the commercial kitchen benefit from using TOCE? When can a commercial kitchen start using TOCE

What is The Online Commodity Exchange (TOCE) TOCE is an organic solution to the problem of farm produce marketing in Kenya. The Online Commodity Exchange (TOCE) Limited is a farmer owned driven company that was incorporated after one year consultations between some 700 farmers under the banner of The Farm Produce Marketing Initiative Kenya (FPMI-K) crystallizing into concrete steps in the last six months to create a commercial entity that will eventually list on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. The Kenyan farmer has been since just shortly after independence a bystander in the area of farm produce marketing a area controlled almost entirely by brokers, middlemen and cartels. Since 1988 the Kenyan farmer has been trying to break loose. With the aid of NGO’s and government agencies the problem has continued to be discussed while farm incomes have plummeted and farming in may sectors has become completely unprofitable leading to many farmers giving up on farming and myriad bankruptcies. With a body of research and on the ground information FPMI-K was formed not merely to look at what the problem was but to see how it could be fixed not by government because in many agricultural sectors government is the broker and not by NGO’s because NGO driven initiatives have proved no better than government initiatives, but by actual farmers; the ones mired in the debt they cannot pay, farm land that is continually reducing in productivity, fighting weather patterns that no longer make any sense and at the end of the day selling their produce at prices close to 70% below what they sell at in the trade at in the urban markets. The most enduring lessons of the FPMI-K conversations were that farm produce marketing had to be fixed on the demand side. Not by associations and cooperatives like farmers had used for so long but by an actual commercial entity that was owned by the farms and went about the task not for humanitarian reasons but for commercial reasons. That looked at the problem from the demand side and not from the supply side. That brought a real world business model to a sector that still underpins the Kenyan economy. That is why TOCE was incorporated.

Who is a commercial kitchen? A commercial kitchen is any organization that is preparing food for sale or as part of a service in a commercial enterprise this includes but is not limited to:  restaurants,  caterers,  hotels,  game lodges,  schools and  hospitals.

What does TOCE do for the Commercial Kitchen? TOCE has a slogan “Makes Life Simple, Makes Sense” this applies squarely to the farmer. TOCE reduces the overall procurement cost of a commercial kitchen by direct procurement from the farmer. Most commercial kitchens feel that they are buying from the famer but they aren’t most are merely market traders who pass themselves off as farmers. As a result the price that feels good can be as high as 1,000% higher than the price the famer is selling to the broker at before factoring transport, logistics, inspection, packaging and standardization costs. It is very possible for the commercial kitchen to experience savings on their procurement of upto 30% of they procure individually. If they use the procurement bulking facility savings can rise as high as 70%. TOCE connects the farmer and the farm to a virtual market for farm produce. This virtual market is market of commercial kitchens, manufacturers and domestic consumers who have been advertised and marketed to use TOCE as a one stop platform to access farm produce from all across the country. TOCE eliminates the problem of supply chain management from the commercial kitchen by ensuring that the farmers produce is pre-marketed to the correct consumer prior to harvest and that where the synergies exist supply contracts are entered into giving the commercial kitchen peace of mind or that growers contracts are entered into that allow the commercial kitchen to obtain prices that are lower than the prevailing market prices.

What does TOCE do for the Commercial Kitchen? TOCE allows the commercial kitchen to participate in value added initiatives that originate from its customer base allowing the commercial kitchen to offer tailor made products to its customers while at the same time dramatically reducing its costs. TOCE removes the challenge of delivery to the customer. Realizing that no consumer wants to take delivery from 80 farmers in a day for 80 different products TOCE runs a consignee delivery system which allows the farmer to deliver to one centralized point and then to have those goods delivered directly to the end consumer with settlement executed much the same way it is for fast food chains. In the long-run TOCE will allow farmers to consign their produce direct from the farm wherever they are in Kenya direct to the distribution center. TOCE in time allows the commercial kitchen invoice discounting facilities allowing reputable commercial kitchens to obtain credit for upto 90 days on their fresh produce purchases based on their payment record. TOCE has an up and running payment system that commercial kitchens can use to make payments and to discount invoices.

How does the commercial kitchen use TOCE? The commercial kitchen can access TOCE via three medium:  Via telephone where orders are placed and confirmed by the commercial kitchen by telephone.  Via the website where orders are placed and confirmed by the commercial kitchen online.  Via the Android app where orders are placed and confirmed by the commercial kitchen on the app.

What does it cost the commercial kitchen to use TOCE? TOCE is absolutely free for commercial kitchens to use. Famers realize that they operate in a buyers market, to move their product quickly and effectively they have created a virtual market where the customers need are paramount and just like the public markets or the supermarkets there is no charge to come in and look or buy.

How does the commercial kitchen benefit from using TOCE? A commercial kitchen is in the business of making money. TOCE helps a commercial kitchen bring its costs down and keep its costs down while providing value added opportunities that further help it bring costs down and keep costs down.

When can a commercial kitchen start using TOCE Currently commercial kitchens are being registered and zoned so that their needs may be assessed. Those that would like to open a Shoppy store on TOCE can be able to so that they can advertise to our domestic consumer base. Once the registration process is over we will give one weeks notice for the commencement of product placement and trading on the platform.