I had taken a break from writing on this blog but that was not deliberate. I actually was not aware that I had many readers till the other day I met an architect....yes, a real architect who told me he was excited to read one of my previous posts on value addition. I promised to continue writing and here I am, I can write and write because I have a following.
We have a very popular fresh juice parlour in Mombasa and my key role in the business is keeping things new and fresh all the time. For that reason, we have weekend specials, today's and that sort of thing without being dishonest in our promises. Few days ago, we could only get avocado fruits and that limited our product varieties. As I was thinking of the challenges, a good idea came into my mind and it was 'eureka' for me. After sharing with colleagues, I decided to come up with a unique fresh avocado vanilla shake for our weekend special. The new product sold like as if everyone was waiting for it. Every customer who came wanted to buy...and they bought till the last drop. We had to make juice many times in a day. The last time I saw those kind of sales was more than 10 years ago, back in the year 2010.
What really happened this time? Value addition plus a bit of innovation in marketing. Ok, let look at how we did it in terms of value addition....please pay attention to this. To make 5 litres we required four medium avocados at a cost of KES 30 each. To give it a nice vanilla taste required KES 100 and the cost of other ingredients did not exceed KES 50; getting to a total cost of KES 300 for 5 litres. Our juice parlour is not located at a high income area so we sold fresh juice at a price of KES 100 a glass. Each 5 litre volume gives 13 glasses so the sales value is KES 1,300 for a product that cost KES 300 to make. Are getting the point? Can you see the change in value? Now, that is value addition. We actually had a special weekend, a time to rejoice...the sales were wonderful.
It seems easy, but how were we able to do it? Of course, the first thing is the innovative recipe, a unique formula. Second, the preparedness....even to the point of writing 'weekend special' all over. However came in had to see something fresh was taking place. And finally, the presentation. We do not sell juice in ordinary glasses. Our standard juice glass costs KES 420 per piece at a local supermarket. The model is always available throughout the year. Customers find the glass beautiful and easy to handle. This is the best part......the glasses do not break even if you bang them on a table.
This is about fresh juice, you can use this approach on many other products that you can sell. And before you do something, there is something else you do . You must prepare and organize yourself. Now...go and do something that can create good value for you and the economy.
