What is it?
FreshBids runs live auctions on the internet for perishable products globally. These auctions are worldwide and international buyers can buy fresh produce direct from FreshBids' local and global growers. "The auctions are live Dutch auctions, which means that they have a starting price and the price reduces until the whole batch is sold or the grower’s reserve is reached. It’s a live auction and they typically take only 30 to 45 minutes," says Kashany.
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dvantages for growersAccording to Kashany, selling through the FreshBids auction offers growers surety of receiving payments. "The growers will only ship or even harvest when the flowers are sold." Besides that, growers can also set a reserve price, which enables them to receive proper prices for their products. "The flowers will not be sold when the price is below this reserve." Another advantage is the fact that growers do not have to think about the logistics. "We have teamed up with some large freight forwarders who will ship the flowers to the buyer's premises."
Advantages for buyers
Not only the growers, but also wholesalers and florists will benefit from this platform. "Most growers specialize in one flower variety. These 'smaller' buyers need a large variety of flowers in small volumes. Thus, the quantity produced by one grower is too large. However, if they buy together, the flowers can be shipped. With this international platform, FreshBids enables wholesalers and florists to do this," says Kashany. Other advantages are the fact that buyers can bid in their landed cost in their own (or preferred) currency and they will receive fresher flowers as the flowers are often being harvested after they have been sold.
Credit checks
The registration process is simple and free of charge. Therefore, one could question the credibility of the registered companies. For this reason, FreshBids extensively checks the participating companies. "Credibility is highly important. We work with professional and well-known companies and when necessary, we do some extra checks before allowing the company to participate in the auction," he says.
Business model
If the companies are checked in advance and registration is free of charge, then how does freshBids earns money? "We add a commission, to which we calculate all our costs, then this is added to the growers original reserve, which makes a new FreshBids reserve. The flowers will not be sold below this FreshBids reserve," explains Kashany.
Expanding network
FreshBids was launched in September 2015 and they are currently building up their network. According to Kashany, the amount of interested buyers and suppliers is growing rapidly. "At the moment, many Kenyan rose growers are signed up and are actively auctioning their products to registered wholesalers and florists in Sydney. Next month, Colombian rose and chrysanthemum growers will start auctioning their flowers followed by Malaysian, Taiwanese and Thailand orchid growers who will start later this year. In the next six months, FreshBids will also be setting up offices in Kenya and Asia and will appoint a global telemarketing company that will sign up buyers and suppliers for the same product. In order to expand their network, FreshBids has plans to attend many international exhibitions.
"Our goal is to become a global company in 3 to 5 years time,''
concludes Kashany.
