This DTC Marketplace Fosters Fairer Trade for Smallholder Food Producers

R-ainbow connects small food producers around the world with nearby buyers in real time — reducing logistical expenses and emissions, and boosting prices for farmers and transparency and trust within the food supply chain.

By Scarlett Buckley | Published 2 months ago | About a 4 minute read

Image: Kampus Production

Smallholder producers are the backbone of our food system, accounting for approximately 80 percent of our global supply. Despite their role in sustaining global food security, these farmers often encounter formidable obstacles in accessing markets and securing equitable compensation for their produce. Hindered by outdated distribution systems and limited resources, smallholders face significant losses — and up to 30-40 percent of their harvest can go to waste due to logistical challenges and market inefficiencies.

Similar in principle to apps such as Abalobi, which streamlines trade for small-scale fisheries by connecting them directly with buyers, sits London-based Rainbow Phi, dba R-ainbow — an online marketplace that connects small food producers with buyers in real time. It highlights factors such as product availability, location and stock levels to facilitate efficient and cost-effective transactions — endeavoring to make the process of buying and selling produce accessible, convenient and sustainable for all parties involved.

The development of R-ainbow was fueled by CEO and founder Elena Proca's mission to level the playing field for smallholder farmers. Since witnessing the struggles of women trying to make ends meet by selling their agricultural produce in her home country, Romania, as a young girl; she envisioned a solution that would reinvent the way farmers can sell their produce.

"It's been such a long journey that I feel it's been with me unconsciously since I was a little girl," Proca — who previously co-founded the Foreign Council on Economic Relations, which facilitates connections between German companies and emerging markets — explains to Sustainable Brands® (SB). "I always had a wish that one day I would be in a position to create something to help people."

The community

R-ainbow started as a website that connected buyers directly with sellers, bypassing the complexities of intermediaries. It has now been developed as an app for both Android and IOS, with over 800 users spanning countries from Ghana, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, the UK and Zambia.

“I began with extremely modest resources and a MVP (minimum viable product) in 2019, which was far from a developed product — it had no scalability and was incomplete. From there, with the help of the initial user base, we developed our global community [of roughly 40K followers] that spread the word about the platform and its mission,” Proca shares. “I am grateful for my R-ainbow community. Some users have been with me since the very beginning in this ongoing journey — they have been my motivation and inspiration not to give up."

R-ainbow’s algorithms streamline the process of matching supply with demand — ensuring efficient, secure transactions and reducing reliance on traditional middlemen. As it has grown, Proca has focused on enhancing its platform's functionality to ensure its primary goal of fostering transparent, equitable market connections that benefit smallholder farmers.

"Imagine you are in the middle of nowhere. You are in your garden — how amazing would it be to take a picture of your product and to be able to sell it on a local scale, maybe even within your community?" Proca says. "R-ainbow can offer that — that's what makes it different and why smallholder farmers will benefit from it."

R-ainbow ensures that both buyers and sellers feel safe and protected by providing a secure payment system and offering various delivery options.

“R-ainbow app has been beneficial to me in terms of visibility. It’s increasing my sales and productivity,” R-ainbow user Stella Okoro, who sells spices under the user shop, DeCastle Kitchen in Nigeria, tells SB.

“R-ainbow gives me a wider range of audience; and I believe that in time, I will make a lot of sales as more people sign up with the app," Mrs. Doro Akus, another R-ainbow user in Nigeria who sells under the user shop, Daniella Akumagba, tells SB.

The movement

Proca explains that R-ainbow is more than just a marketplace; it's a movement. By allowing sellers to set up their own virtual shops within the app, R-ainbow equips farmers to take control of their businesses and set fair prices for their products.

"Why do you have to beg the supermarkets to sell your produce?" Proca explains. "Why don't we create an option for you as a seller to set up your own shop, a virtual shop within the app?"

No longer constrained by middlemen or the volume needed to supply supermarket shelves, farmers can directly reach buyers — boosting economic autonomy for farmers while cultivating transparency and trust within the food supply chain. R-ainbow's radius-based matchmaking approach further enhances these benefits by curbing logistical expenses and carbon emissions.

Looking ahead, with aspirations of an IPO, Proca sees the growing R-ainbow movement challenging the status quo and offering a more equitable model for connecting farming communities to customers worldwide.

"I see R-ainbow being a global business," she asserts. "I want our product to be able to be used anywhere and everywhere."