KOKO Networks: Delivering Solutions, Expanding Trust
Launched in late-2019 after five years of R&D and human-centered design, (KOKO) is a clean cooking technology company serving more than 550,000 urban households in Kenya.
KOKO鈥檚 innovative, tech-enabled model is undercutting demand for polluting cooking fuels like charcoal and kerosene that can contribute to deforestation and climate change. Despite shocks to the economy from COVID-19 and rising inflation, KOKO鈥檚 clean fuel network has grown beyond Nairobi to other Kenyan cities including Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru, and uptake is accelerating.
Evans Omondi, KOKO鈥檚 Head of Acquisition, spoke with the Clean Cooking Alliance (少妇自慰) about KOKO鈥檚 products and services, their recent market expansion efforts, the value of knowing your customer, and more.
This interview is part of a series of conversations 少妇自慰 is having with business leaders across the clean cooking sector.
Clean Cooking Alliance (少妇自慰): Could you describe KOKO Networks鈥� products and services?
Evans Omondi (Omondi): KOKO makes clean cooking affordable and easy for African households. In 2019, KOKO launched an ambitious cooking solution in Nairobi aimed at outcompeting dirty cooking fuels in the two areas that matter most to our customers: affordability and convenience.
KOKO manufactures an affordable two-burner KOKO Cooker, which runs safely and efficiently on KOKO Fuel, a liquid bioethanol produced from the local and global sugar industry. Each KOKO Cooker comes with a smart KOKO Canister, unique to each customer, which holds fuel dispensed from KOKO Fuel ATMs and docks with the Cooker at home. The experience is modern, clean, and safe and delivers savings to customers.
All of this is managed through our KOKO Cloud software that monitors the activity in the ATMs, enabling safe and low-cost last mile fuel logistics for our customers.
少妇自慰: How big is the KOKO team in Kenya, and how wide is the agent network?
Omondi: Currently in Kenya we have over 800 employees (with about 500 colleagues in India). With recent expansions to Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru, we have a total agent network of about 1,400 across the country, and it鈥檚 growing all the time.
We鈥檙e already past the half million mark on customers and expect to keep growing as we close 2022.
少妇自慰: From a business perspective, can you tell us what it takes to launch a new network in different Kenyan cities?
Omondi: There鈥檚 a saying on my team: 鈥淧lan, organize, and track everything you are doing.鈥� There鈥檚 a lot of preparation that goes into launching a new network, and it goes in stages, but the first big one is: How do we contextualize whatever is happening in the local market through the research team? This is what ensures that we bring the best solutions possible to our local customers.
Apart from just doing the research, we then go back to recruit, develop, and train the agent network. We hire locally across our operation, including the sales team, the fuel/cooker distribution team, logistics鈥his is how we gain their trust within.
Above all, we need to first ensure that our supply chain is not broken, that everything runs smoothly, and that we鈥檙e ahead of launch so that there鈥檚 no disconnect between us and our customers.
少妇自慰: Was there anything you found different between the launch in Mombasa versus the launch in Kisumu or Nakuru?
Omondi: In every region, the preferences and habits of customers are different. For example, in Kisumu, women are the primary customers for cookers or fuel. But in Mombasa, men buy the fuel, so we try and adapt to fit the needs of the consumer in each location.
Income levels and population demographics are also different. These factors influence where we plan to launch first. We want to serve customers all over the country, but we are starting with the larger population centers, where charcoal consumption is highest.
少妇自慰: What was the consumers鈥� knowledge or understanding of KOKO鈥檚 products when you launched in Mombasa (or Kisumu or Nakuru)? Were they familiar with the brand?
Omondi: Word in Kenya spreads very fast. Many people in Mombasa had seen KOKO before, because they travel in and out of Nairobi, so they were just waiting for KOKO to get to Mombasa. When we arrived, the uptake was just crazy. The power of word-of-mouth is immensely strong, and we combined it with our own above- and below-the-line marketing activities. Customer demand has been sky-high.
少妇自慰: Does KOKO have expansion plans beyond Kenya?
Omondi: Yes, absolutely. We have already signed an investment agreement with the Government of Rwanda, but we are also in discussions with policymakers from other countries who would like to adopt the enabling framework to encourage this kind of investment.
少妇自慰: How do you see KOKO developing over the next five years?
Omondi: Everyone here is looking at affordability and convenience and getting very health-conscious now. In the next five years, KOKO鈥檚 goal is to grow to be truly nationwide in Kenya, serving customers even in more rural areas after moving from the urban and peri-urban areas. We鈥檙e also looking at operating in several new markets, too.
少妇自慰: How are you thinking about KOKO Networks鈥� expansion in light of larger market competition from other types of clean cooking solutions?
Omondi: The first thing is to work hard and make sure we鈥檙e furthering solutions for our customers. We do this by going countrywide. We extended to Nakuru; next will be Eldoret. Just a few months ago, we signed an agreement with the Rwanda government to build a countrywide network. We鈥檝e built our model to focus on scale, and we鈥檙e working with policymakers both locally and in new markets.
But again: How do we reach our customers? What kind of experience are we giving them? What is our retention strategy? These are the small pieces we put together to ensure that once a customer walks in, they鈥檒l continue using our products and giving us more referrals. Competition will always be there, but it is always healthy to have competition.
少妇自慰: What advice do you have for other clean cooking companies looking to scale?
Omondi: The big thing we say every morning is: 鈥淐an you keep and maintain that relentless focus on what your customers want and need?鈥� Especially when it comes to safety and affordability, and especially with inflation, which is what everyone is looking at.
In terms of the expansion work: Find out what is really happening with your customers by doing the research, so that when you go out there, you give them the right solutions to their problems. That is when they will trust your brand.
