As households tighten budgets and supermarkets wrestle with unsold produce, a fresh entry in Kenya’s digital economy aims to turn what many see as a societal failure into an opportunity. The Msossi app by Msossi Ventures Limited officially launched in early 2026 with a clear mission: halt unnecessary food waste, unlock savings for consumers, and help businesses reclaim lost value.
At its core, Msossi is a mobile marketplace that links consumers to local shops, restaurants, bakeries and hotels selling surplus or near-expiry food at steep discounts. It is designed to be easy to use, cost-effective and socially impactful, enabling purchasers to snap up meals and groceries at prices far below retail while keeping still-good products out of the trash.
The Inspiration behind Msossi: Turning Waste into Worth
The idea for Msossi was sparked by a stark contradiction playing out across Kenya’s food system. According to industry estimates, between 30% and 40% of all food produced in Kenya is lost every year through spoilage or expiry. This figure represents millions of tonnes of squandered food, billions in economic loss and a worsened food security environment for many households.
The app’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Otiende, says this problem became personal after spending a year embedded with retailers and food service operators to understand the scale and drivers of waste. He found supermarkets losing as much as 5-12% of fresh food, while restaurants and hotels were discarding up to 30% of prepared meals. These figures, he realised, pointed to a massive inefficiency that technology could help to address.
“What we saw was food literally sitting on shelves or in kitchens and being thrown away — yet there were thousands of households struggling to afford a decent meal,” Otiende told The Star. “If we can connect that surplus with people who need it, without undermining quality or safety, we transform loss into value.”
How the App Works: Simple, Practical, Local
Msossi’s deployment strategy is rooted in ease of use and real-world practicality. Once users download the app on their smartphone, they are presented with a feed of surplus food offerings near them. These may be “goodie bags” — surprise bundles of excess cooked meals or baked goods — or “final days” packs of groceries nearing their best-before date, all offered at discounts of up to 70%.
Purchases are made through secure payment options including M-Pesa and card, with users able to choose pickup or delivery depending on what the listing offers. An interactive map helps consumers find deals within a practical radius, while businesses can list surplus stock in seconds, with pricing recommendations to ensure quick turnover.
Beyond the transaction, Msossi also tracks measurable impact metrics — like total meals saved, volume of food diverted from waste and estimated carbon emissions reduced. These data points are designed to help participating companies bolster their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting and demonstrate a commitment to sustainability.
Benefits for Consumers and Businesses
For consumers, the benefits are tangible: affordable access to nutritious food, particularly as inflationary pressures keep ordinary grocery prices elevated. Many customers, especially students, low-income families, and cost-conscious professionals, see Msossi as a way to stretch their food budgets without sacrificing quality.
For businesses, the case is equally compelling. Unsold food represents a pure loss — money spent on production that never gets recovered. Msossi’s marketplace provides a legitimate, revenue-generating outlet for surplus stock that would otherwise be disposed of at cost. This is particularly valuable for the hospitality sector, where margins are thin and waste can mount quickly.
Moreover, companies that participate can signal their commitment to sustainability to customers and stakeholders, an increasingly important differentiator in an era when consumers and investors alike reward responsible business practices.
A Pioneer, But Not Alone
While digital food-waste marketplaces are not entirely new globally, Msossi is widely seen as Kenya’s first app dedicated specifically to tackling food waste head-on through surplus transactions. That positioning gives it pioneering status in the country’s food-tech ecosystem, showing how African startups are localising global solutions to fit domestic market realities.
The name msossi itself is a Kenyan sheng’ word for food.
Yet this innovation doesn’t mean Msossi faces no competition. Across Europe, North America and parts of Asia, similar platforms such as Too Good To Go and OLIO have already built substantial user bases, offering a model that Msossi and others can learn from. But Kenya’s distinct challenge where high levels of informal food retail, mobile money ubiquity and acute food insecurity creates a unique environment where Msossi’s model could be especially resonant.
Challenges Ahead: Scale, Adoption, Systemic Limits
Despite its promise, Msossi confronts real challenges. The first is scale and adoption. Convincing tens of thousands of SMEs including informal vendors who may lack digital infrastructure to join a marketplace app is no small task, especially in areas with limited internet access or lower smartphone penetration.
Msossi is pursuing an aggressive merchant-acquisition drive targeting up to 80,000 potential outlets across the country as part of its rollout strategy. By the tine if publishing this article (February 26, 2026) Google Play Store showed that the app has 100+ downloads, signaling a slow but progressive adoption.
There’s also the systemic issue of where waste occurs. Msossi addresses surplus at the retail and hospitality end of the food chain. But a significant portion of food loss in Kenya happens upstream — at farms, in storage or during transport — due to inadequate cold-chain infrastructure and logistical bottlenecks. An app alone cannot fix these deeper structural challenges.
Finally, ensuring consistent quality and safety will remain a priority, particularly as the platform scales from urban centres into smaller towns and peri-urban areas. Clear standards and rigorous oversight will be essential to build and sustain consumer trust.
Nonetheless, Msossi’s launch marks a significant moment in Kenya’s journey toward more sustainable food systems. By connecting surplus supply with unmet demand, the app not only unlocks economic value but also invites a wider conversation about how technology can reshape resource flows, nourish communities and reduce waste. In that sense, Msossi stands as both a tool and a symbol of innovation woven into everyday life, and of solutions that emerge when necessity meets ingenuity.
