From roadside to retail: the Sacoma Sweet Potato Initiative
How a conversation with sweet potato farmers in rural Kenya grew into an award-winning partnership with the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Greenwich, taking smallholder crops from the farm to export-ready, retail-ready products.
World Food Innovation Awards: Best Social Responsibility Initiative
Sacoma’s Kenya Sweet Potatoes Innovative Healthy Products won Best Social Responsibility Initiative at the 2017 World Food Innovation Awards, presented at IFE, ExCeL London.
The judges considered 265 entries from 29 countries across 23 categories.
Plays the moment Sacoma is announced (9:43 to 10:07). Video: FoodBev Media.
Eight steps from a roadside stall to the supermarket shelf
- A roadside conversationSacoma’s founders meet sweet potato farmers selling by the road in rural Kenya.
- A hard first shipmentOnly a quarter of the first consolidated container is export ready.
- The right partnersUniversities, researchers and experts are brought in to tackle quality at the source.
- On the farmTraining and storageFarmers are trained in quality management and post-harvest handling, and new warehouses are built.
- On the farmExport readyAfter more than a year, crops grown to GlobalG.A.P. standards are exported to the UK.
- 2016Product innovationNRI postgraduate students turn Kenyan sweet potatoes into ten new snacks.
- 2017RecognitionSacoma wins Best Social Responsibility Initiative at the World Food Innovation Awards.
- Retail, and beyondProducts reach retail, and the experience becomes our Ready-to-Retail Programme.
A conversation by the roadside
The Sweet Potato Initiative began as a personal journey for the founders of Sacoma Global Ltd. On a trip back to Kenya, they drove through the countryside where sweet potatoes are grown and stopped to buy some.
In rural Kenya, farmers often sell their harvest along the roadside to earn extra income when they cannot sell in bulk. Drive through sugarcane country and you will be offered sugarcane; in maize-growing areas, maize; where tomatoes grow, tomatoes. Talking with the sweet potato farmers, the founders saw a clear gap: good produce, hard-working growers, and no reliable route to a bigger market.
Having lived and worked abroad, they believed they could help these farmers reach new customers. So they bought sweet potatoes from the growers and began consolidating a shipment for the UK.
Only a quarter was export ready
When the first container was consolidated, only about one quarter of the sweet potatoes met the quality the UK export market demands. It was a significant early loss.
It also raised a bigger question, one the founders kept returning to on their way back to the UK: how do you help smallholder farmers, in sweet potatoes and beyond, become quality ready and export ready for UK and global markets?
The answer was to start at the farm, not the shelf.
Building an export-ready supply chain
Sacoma formed strategic partnerships with universities, researchers and experts, including the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) at the University of Greenwich. Together they looked first at what happens after harvest, then at what farmers needed to meet international standards.
Post-harvest research
The work began by researching post-harvest handling techniques, so that sweet potatoes keep their quality between the field and the buyer.
Farmer training
Farmers were trained in quality management and in preparing produce for market, from the farmer’s point of view. Sacoma supports farmer groups and cooperatives to meet internationally recognised standards such as GlobalG.A.P. and HACCP.[2]
Warehouses without electricity
Post-harvest warehouses were set up with local leadership in counties including Kericho and Homa Bay. They keep produce safe by controlling humidity, without needing electricity. In Kericho, NRI supported Sacoma in setting up warehousing and post-harvest storage systems.[1]
Turning sweet potatoes into ready-to-retail products
With export-quality sweet potatoes now reaching the UK, the next step was to add value. In 2016, Sacoma Foods set out to show how raw produce can be transformed into ready-to-retail food products through hands-on product development, market thinking and structured guidance.
Working with the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), the initiative took place at the University of Greenwich’s Food Innovation Technology Centre. It challenged postgraduate students on the MSc Food Innovation and MSc Food Safety and Quality Management programmes to move beyond theory and engage directly with the realities of food production and commercialisation.
Using white-fleshed Kenyan sweet potatoes sourced through Sacoma’s farmer networks, develop value-added snacks for modern consumers: premium crisps and nutritious energy bars, with flavours inspired by each student’s home country.
Kenyan sweet potatoes, global ambitions
- Where
- University of Greenwich, at the Food Innovation Technology Centre, working with MSc Science and Food Innovation students
- Focus
- Developing innovative products from Kenyan sweet potatoes
- Market goals
- UK and EU markets, with potential for Chinese and Japanese markets
- Participants
- A diverse student group with Japanese, Chinese, African and Indian backgrounds, among others
- Key areas
- Value-added product development, such as bars and crisps
- Ethical packaging and local production in Africa
- Meeting EU labelling standards
- Impact
- Creating sustainable markets and boosting smallholder farmers’ income
- Improving living standards in Africa
- Exploring health benefits, including for diabetes management
What the students created
Ten snacks, ten flavour stories, drawn from kitchens around the world.
Premium sweet potato crisps
Globally inspired flavour profiles
- Seafood curryNigeria
- Lime and coconutThailand
- Dill and garlicSaudi Arabia
- Thyme and chilliSaudi Arabia
- BasilItaly
Energy and breakfast bars
At least 70% sweet potato
- Mango and passionfruitUK
- Chocolate and chilliSri Lanka
- Coconut and bananaThailand
- Banana and mangoJapan
- Orange and cinnamonGreece
An end-to-end view, from idea to shelf
What set this initiative apart was its end-to-end perspective. Participants were not simply asked to create food products. They were guided to think about every stage a product passes through before it is ready for retail.
- Consumer appeal
- Ingredient functionality
- Processing methods
- Presentation
- Market readiness
Over seven weeks, the initiative simulated real-world food business conditions. Students tested their products again and again, adjusting process and ingredients, before presenting them at a showcase to industry stakeholders and partners, attended by a Kenya High Commission delegation led by Ambassador Jackline Yonga.
“The students worked really hard to test their products, continually adjusting the process and ingredients to find the perfect texture and flavour.”
Julie Crenn, Food Safety Specialist, Natural Resources Institute
Inside the development kitchen
Watch: the project at the University of Greenwich
Video: UKENTV.
Many promising food ideas fail not because they lack potential, but because they lack structure, guidance and a clear path to retail.
This was not a one-off experiment. From farmer training and post-harvest storage in Kenya to product development and labelling in the UK, it became the model Sacoma Foods continues to refine: connecting farmers to markets through innovation, skills development and commercially viable product design.
Retail readiness is in the detail
The products developed through the initiative went on to be manufactured, exported and retailed. Getting there meant solving problems that only appear once a product meets real customers.
The pancake mix label
The first label on our sweet potato pancake mix simply said “Just add water”. A customer challenged it. We took the label back to food experts for review, and they agreed: the instruction did not tell a consumer enough to make the product well. Using that feedback, we redesigned the label with clear, complete usage instructions.
Labelling was one of several challenges along the way. Each one was met the same way: listen, test, correct and keep going.
The Sacoma sweet potato range
Made with Kenyan sweet potatoes, from the development kitchen to retail-ready export packaging.
The foundation of our Ready-to-Retail Programme
The lessons from this initiative directly informed our Ready-to-Retail Programme. It formalises what Sacoma Foods has already delivered in practice, and it is grounded in lived experience, not theory.
Smallholder farmers are trained and supported until their sweet potatoes are export ready.
Those sweet potatoes become ten student-developed snack products.
The model is refined: connecting farmers to markets through innovation, skills and product design.
The Ready-to-Retail Programme guides food founders and producers from idea to shelf, with structured support in:
By bringing UK research and expertise to rural Kenyan farms, the initiative tackled weaknesses in the supply chain at their source, reduced post-harvest losses and built a reliable bridge to global markets. It shows that, with the right framework, agricultural products can become scalable, market-ready food businesses. Today we continue to apply these lessons with entrepreneurs, producers and partners across the UK and beyond, to build resilient, inclusive and commercially viable food systems.
For anyone considering their own food journey, our message is clear: we have made this journey before, and we are trusted to guide others through it again.
Ready to move from concept to shelf?
Our Ready-to-Retail Programme is built on real initiatives, proven systems and practical experience. Sacoma Foods is ready to guide you.
Sources: [1] “NRI students savour success with sweet potato snacks”, Natural Resources Institute, 23 June 2016 · [2] “SACOMA Global Foods Innovation”, i-genius · World Food Innovation Awards 2017, FoodBev Media.