APPETITO REVEALS EXPANSION PLANS FOLLOWING CASH INJECTION

Egyptian start-up Appetito, a grocery and household products delivery service, has revealed its plans to expand across Africa after securing a seed funding round.

Appetito – a grocery delivery platform founded by Shehab Mokhtar in March 2020 – recently secured €368,000 in seed investment from a group of prominent investors which will help extend its reach.

Speaking about its plans for expansion following the cash injection, Mokhtar said: “We operate in three main cities in Egypt – Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria. Our expansion plan is to include more cities in Egypt, then other markets in Africa.”

Appetito sources products from manufacturers, stores them in its warehouses, and ships them to customers via mini fulfilment centres. Customers can order from its website, mobile app or through social media platforms.

Mokhtar said: “We started with next day and pre-scheduled deliveries. Recently we launched our same day delivery service – under 60 minutes – in selected areas.”

Appetito began life selling white label products only, but later began taking on products from well-known consumer brands. It is addressing a retail market in Egypt that is worth €48.2 billion, and solving a challenge within it.

Mokhtar said: “The main gap we are addressing for our customers is getting their household products in a convenient and affordable way with a great customer experience. Most of the supermarkets who do home delivery do not focus on customer experience and they fail to deliver in a timely manner.

“Our proposition is that we buy products from manufacturers to ensure getting best prices, and operate through dark stores to decrease the cost and be closer to our customers.”

Mokhtar said the start-up is working to change customer habits when it comes to shopping, a challenge that means engaging with the market but also one that has been made slightly easier by the effects of the Covid-19 crisis. 

“We’re educating the market that customers can buy their products online cheaper, and have it delivered in a very convenient way,” said Mokhtar.

“Covid-19 has played an important role in increasing this trend due to safety concerns. The backing of the investors will help position the start-up to be in a leading position in the global race of grocery delivery.”

Since the first round of seed funding, the start-up said it added more than 1,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs).

Mokhtar said he hopes to scale the startup quickly.

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