Koliko, The Ghanaian Food Logistics Startup Expands Nationwide

Koliko, a startup food delivery platform that gives its users access to book a meal from its food menu list issued by various food vendors and restaurants under its platform. Due to the positive result of serving more than hundreds of customers during the initial period, it tested its operations. The executives revealed that its food delivery platform is ready to expand its services across its host country, Ghana.

The food delivery platform is designed with a well-organized menu derived from the local restaurants registered in its platform.  The menu list represents Koliko’s major feature, whereas nutritional details about each meal are made available, which enables its users to access health-giving meals based on their health status.

Koliko was developed by two Ghanaians named Osborn Amankwah and Julius Asante, who graduated from the same university. During their years of being undergraduates, they realized the business idea, which stands as a solution to the biased Ghanaian food delivery system, favoring only high profiled logistic food companies.

The startup’s beta version was tested in a five-month time frame that started from September 2019 and lasted till January before it officially launched its services in February 2020, “So far, we have received a positive response from our users,” Asante said. The Ghanaian food logistic platform has more than a thousand active users to have processed roughly six thousand orders.

Asante noted that the logistic food platform offers an end-to-end service that connects its users to restaurants, “We aim to help people satisfy their cravings by connecting them to restaurants and food vendors in their locality.” He also said that Koliko serves as an empowerment platform, especially for small-scale restaurants or food vendors, which further extend their access to a wide marketplace with more customers, generating more revenue for restaurants.

“Market research we conducted showed the average young professional spends about 10 hours at work having little time to cook their meals, and therefore orders takeout, but they have little or no control over how healthy their meals are,” he said.

Furthermore, Julius Asante highlighted other defaults in the Ghanaian food logistic marketplace. He said that existing competitors in the bazaar do not give its users the options to choose the preferred meals that match their nutritional requirements, and existing competitors also “focus only on high-end restaurants, leaving out the small restaurants and local food vendors.” Moreover, Koliko is the bridge that balances the gap between small restaurants and high profiled restaurants.

The startup food logistic platform is fully operational in Sunyani, a city in Ghana with 75,000 inhabitants. Koliko’s marketing team disclosed that the city is a perfect marketplace with enormous potential to generate revenue and less competition. They noted that all the residents of Sunyani, which includes students, professors, accountants, doctors, etc., are their targets, and in the nearest future, they intend to expand across Africa.

“Koliko was funded with this grant and founder capital, and we are looking to raise additional funding to help us achieve our vision. We seek to expand to Accra, Kumasi and Tamale in Ghana, and Nigeria and Kenya in the future,” said Asante.

The logistic food platform makes profits via commissions on each order. However, Koliko has been operating on the founder’s capital and the piece of investments it received from the Tony Elemelu foundation. In the second quarter of 2021, Koliko sets to raise additional funds to accomplish its agenda of expanding across Africa.