Zambia’s CherryPick is an agro-processing company that is helping to build more resilient, inclusive and adaptable food systems while encouraging healthier eating habits, one healthy snack at a time.
Founded in 2016 by Zama Bbuku and her husband Lwando, CherryPick started as a modest strawberry-growing venture keen to contribute meaningfully to Zambia’s agricultural landscape.
“This exposed us to a reality shared by farmers across Zambia – abundance at harvest and loss shortly after due to challenges with market linkages. This sparked a defining question for us – what if we could preserve more of what we grow, add value locally and make nutritious food accessible year round,” she said.
“At the heart of what we do is a very simple idea – Zambia produces a lot of good food, but too much of it is lost after harvest, while at the same time consumers are looking for healthier and more convenient food options.”
CherryPick sources seasonal, nutritious produce from small-scale farmers and transforms it into quality, shelf-stable, conveniently-packaged dried fruit and cashew nut snacks.
“By extending the shelf-life of fresh produce, we are able to reduce post-harvest losses, create market opportunities for farmers and give consumers convenient healthier alternatives to ultra-processed foods,” Bbuku said.
Improving traceability and quality
The startup is currently in the process of developing AgroChain360, a technology platform designed to improve traceability, farmer coordination, production planning and quality assurance across the agricultural value chain.
“Ultimately, we want consumers to have greater visibility of where their food comes from while creating stronger and more reliable links between farmers and markets,” said Bbuku.
“We saw two sides of the same problem. On one side, farmers can have good produce but struggle with reliable markets, and because fresh produce is highly perishable, anything that isn’t sold quickly can become a loss. On the other side, consumers increasingly want convenient snacks, but many of the readily available options are highly processed.”
CherryPick saw an opportunity to connect those two problems.
“We are not simply trying to sell another snack. We are building a farm-to-shelf model around local sourcing, value addition, healthier eating and traceability. AgroChain360 will strengthen that differentiation by helping us build greater transparency and coordination into the supply chain,” said Bbuku.
Finding support to grow
Cherry-Pick has been grown through a combination of founder investment, business revenues and grant funding.
“One of our most important milestones has been our participation in the Standard Chartered Women in Tech programme implemented by BongoHive, through which we received both funding and business support. We have received three grants since inception, which has helped us expand our operations.”
This refers to the Standard Chartered Foundation’s Women in Tech Accelerator, implemented by BongoHive in Zambia, with support from Village Capital. The program is part of a multi-region initiative which supports impact-creating, tech-enabled, women-led startups in building thriving businesses across Africa, the Middle East, and Pakistan.
“Other important milestones have included obtaining our ZABS certification, expanding our retail presence, building partnerships within Zambia’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, and continuing to grow our production capacity despite operating in a very challenging environment,” Bbuku said.
Building traction
“We have built up a lot of traction over the years with uptake and growth increasing year-on-year by over 60 per cent. The response has been highly encouraging, particularly as more consumers become conscious of what they eat and look for convenient but healthier alternatives.”
The business has grown through a combination of retail sales, direct customers, corporate orders and partnerships.
“One of the things that has encouraged us most is repeat consumption. When somebody tries the product and comes back for it, that tells us we are not simply benefiting from curiosity around a new product, we are building something people genuinely want,” said Bbuku.
“We have also learnt that building a food brand takes time. It involves educating consumers, getting them to try something different and then consistently delivering the quality that makes them come back.”
Expanding beyond Zambia
CherryPick’s ambition goes beyond Zambia.
“We believe the challenges we are addressing such as post-harvest losses, fragmented agricultural value chains and growing demand for healthier foods, are shared across many African markets,” said Bbuku.
“Our longer-term plan is therefore to expand our product distribution into regional and export markets while also scaling AgroChain360. We want Cherry-Pick to demonstrate that African agricultural businesses can create value locally and build products and systems capable of competing beyond their home markets.”
Bbuku’s background is not in the food business, but rather the ICT regulatory space, where much of her work involved licensing, regulation, stakeholder engagement and understanding how businesses operate within structured environments. Entrepreneurship came from a desire to build something of her own, but also something that could solve a real problem.
“The journey has definitely not been a straight line. We started small and have had to learn almost every aspect of the business along the way – from production and packaging to certification, getting products onto retail shelves, managing cash flow and building a brand. We’ve also had to navigate challenges such as load shedding, access to equipment, sourcing consistently and finding the right markets for our products,” she said.
“For me personally, entrepreneurship has been a journey of resilience. I have had to learn that you don’t need to have everything figured out before you start. You build, you make mistakes, you adjust, and you keep going.”
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