James Kimani is the chief executive officer of Jarine Investments Limited, a company that supplies fruits and vegetables to Quickmart supermarkets.
In an interview, he said that he got the bright idea to supply fresh produce to Quickmart around 2014. At that time, the giant retailer we see today only had four branches.
At first, Kimani was contracted to supply fruits to three branches of the rising Quickmart supermarket.
After some time, the arrangement changed when the retailer wanted him to supply vegetables as well.
According to Kimani, Quickmart was one of the first supermarkets in Kenya to come up with a business model that allowed suppliers to bring fruits and vegetables to its stores.
The model allowed Kimani’s company, Jarine Investments, to supply fresh produce and provide the staff who would handle customers.
The terms of payment were that he would be paid after about 30 days.
“We continued well, and we were resilient enough to manage to supply the fourth branch of Quickmart supermarket,” Kimani said.
Kimani said that Jarine Investments works with small-scale farmers in different parts of Kenya to source fruits and vegetables.
The company collects fresh produce from these farmers and supplies it to various retailers, including Quickmart supermarket.
This arrangement helps farmers find buyers for their produce.
According to Kimani, one of the biggest challenges facing farmers is finding a market for what they grow.
“So, we help them get the market by aggregating the produce and distributing it to the supermarkets,” he said.
This entails collecting fruits and vegetables from different farmers and bringing them together to meet the huge demands of large retailers.
Kimani said that this model ensures that he has a stable supply of fresh fruits and vegetables for Quickmart all year round.
Jarine Investments operates in a market where large supermarket chains need a steady supply of fresh produce for their customers.
Other supermarkets in Kenya have also turned to farmers and aggregators to meet this demand.
In September 2026, Naivas Supermarket said it was recruiting more farmer-aggregators to supply fresh produce.
According to a report by FarmBizAfrica, the retailer collects fresh fruits and vegetables from different farms through its suppliers before distributing them to its stores.
Naivas also said the arrangement could help farmers who do not have a reliable means of transport or the ability to sort their produce according to supermarket requirements.
Research has found that supplying supermarkets can improve the incomes of small-scale farmers.
A 2022 report by the journal World Development found that Kenyan farmers with supermarket supply contracts had, on average, 61% more household income than their counterparts who sell to traditional markets.
When Kimani approached Quickmart around 2014, the supermarket had three branches.
Today, Quickmart is one of Kenya’s major supermarket chains, with at least 72 stores across 16 counties in Kenya.
In September 2026, Quickmart announced plans to list its shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
The listing would allow members of the public to invest in Quickmart and support its growth plans.
The retailer also said the listing could strengthen its relationships with suppliers and other business partners.