Bridging the food gap: Pricepally’s fresh approach
In Nigeria, millions of people face soaring food prices, unreliable quality, and long trips to crowded markets — while local farmers struggle with post-harvest losses and limited access to buyers. Meanwhile, urban families spend up to 60% of their income on food.
This photoblog offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Pricepally is transforming that reality: by building direct relationships with farmers, removing unnecessary middlemen, and delivering fresh, affordable food straight to doorsteps across Lagos.
Nigeria’s fresh food supply chain is highly fragmented. Most households and small vendors rely on informal networks of brokers, often involving multiple layers between farm and consumer. This leads to inflated urban prices, reduced farmer earnings, and large amounts of spoilage due to inadequate infrastructure, such as lack of decent roads, cold storage, and power supply.
While Pricepally faces the same infrastructure challenges as the rest of the market, it offsets these inefficiencies by streamlining the supply chain — cutting out unnecessary middlemen, sourcing directly from farmers and wholesalers, and using its own technology and logistics to manage the process more efficiently.
It all begins with building trust on the ground. Local agents work through community networks to identify and onboard smallholder farmers — offering them a reliable market for their produce. Predictable purchase volumes help reduce post-harvest losses while boosting income stability for farmers.
In addition to smallholders, the venture also sources from wholesalers, capable of supplying larger volumes. These partners appreciate the fair payment terms and consistent demand, enabling them to scale their operations with confidence.
With this network of farmers and wholesalers in place, how does the food actually get from field to fork? The process begins the moment an order is placed:
Urban customers — both individuals and organized buying groups known as "pallies" — place their orders online by 10:00pm the night before. Early the next morning, the procurement team sources the necessary produce from wholesalers, if it is not already available in the inventory from their own farmer network.
Once the fresh goods arrive at the venture’s fulfillment center, they are cleaned, graded, and carefully repackaged. An in-house IT system manages order compilation and ensures strict quality control. By 11:00am, deliveries are underway — handled by a fleet of in-house and on-demand drivers.
Today, Pricepally serves two key customer segments: 1. B2C clients (urban households) 2. B2B clients (restaurants, hotels, supermarkets)
B2C clients: For urban households — where women typically manage food purchases — the platform offers convenience, savings, and peace of mind. Customers can skip time-consuming market trips by ordering their food online and having it delivered straight to their doorstep — whether at home or at the office. All orders are prepaid via mobile money.
B2B clients: Hotels, restaurants, and catering businesses (HORECA) benefit from steady, reliable deliveries — with transparent pricing and high-quality produce that meets their exacting standards.
Conclusions
By directly linking farmers and wholesalers to urban customers, Pricepally is reshaping Nigeria’s food economy — making it more efficient, inclusive, and fair. The model not only improves access to fresh, affordable food — especially for women — but also ensures farmers and small vendors receive a greater share of the value chain. Through smart logistics, strong community partnerships, and a tech-enabled platform, Pricepally is helping to build a food system where everyone benefits: from farm to fork, and every step in between.
