HoReCa means Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes (or Catering): every business that cooks or pours food and drink for people to enjoy there and then. In Kenya and Nigeria that is the hotel kitchen, the buka, the nyama choma joint, the bar and the wedding caterer. People also say HoReCa sector or HoReCa industry: the food and drink part of hospitality.
For a brand that sells cooking oil, seasoning or drinks, HoReCa is a channel of its own. It sits beside general trade and modern trade: the dukas and provision stores on one side, the supermarkets on the other. The buyer is a cook, an owner or a purchase manager. They order jerrycans and catering packs for the kitchen or the bar.
Picture a sales manager in Nairobi whose seasoning goes into kibandas and a few big hotels. They know the hotels by name, but not which kibandas bought this week. Those orders go to the distributor.
HoReCa full form: Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes
The word takes the first two letters of each part of Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes (or Catering):
| Letters | Stands for | Outlets your reps will meet | What they order from brands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ho | Hotels | Hotels, lodges, safari camps, guesthouses, banquet halls | Breakfast and buffet food, drinks, room supplies, cleaning products |
| Re | Restaurants | Bukas, mama-put, kibandas, suya spots, fast-food chains | Cooking oil, rice, flour, seasoning cubes, tomato paste, sauces, soft drinks |
| Ca | Cafes or catering | Coffee houses, bakeries, juice bars, event caterers | Coffee, tea, milk, syrups, baked goods, disposables |
The word comes from Dutch, where it names the hotel, restaurant and cafe trade. Suppliers carried it across Europe, Asia and Africa, while North American firms say “food service”. Official statistics use neither. The UN’s ISIC classification lists these businesses as “accommodation and food service activities”.
HoReCa, HORECA, Horeca, Ho.Re.Ca and ho re ca are one word with one meaning. Say it HO-reh-ka.
The outlets that count as HoReCa in Kenya and Nigeria
If a business cooks or pours for guests on its premises, or at an event it runs, it is HoReCa:
- Hotels and lodges, with their restaurants, bars and banquet halls
- Restaurants of every size, from fine dining and fast-food chains to the buka or kibanda down the road
- Coffee houses and bakeries that serve on site
- Bars, pubs, lounges and nyama choma joints
- Caterers for weddings, funerals and company events
- Institutional kitchens, if your company counts them: canteens, hospitals, schools and airlines
The edges move. Many companies count delivery-only cloud kitchens, and breweries often give bars to their own on-trade team. Write your list down before you set targets, so a target in Lagos means the same as one in Nairobi.
How a HoReCa sale differs from a duka or provision store sale
HoReCa sales means selling to outlets that use your product to make what they serve. A duka or provision store sells your pack as it came. A kitchen opens it, so the cook judges taste, yield, consistency and cost per plate.
| A hotel, buka or caterer (HoReCa) | A duka, kiosk or provision store (general trade) | A supermarket chain (modern trade) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who says yes | The cook or owner; for a chain, central purchasing | The shop owner | The category buyer at head office |
| What they buy | Catering packs, jerrycans, large tins, kegs | Consumer packs | Consumer packs |
| When they reorder | Small, frequent top-ups, set by the menu and the week | When the rep calls, or by phone or WhatsApp | When head office schedules it |
| How the goods arrive | Distributor, wholesaler, cash and carry, open market, or direct for chains | Distributors and wholesalers | The chain’s own warehouse |
| How they pay | Credit through the distributor, or cash | Cash or short credit | Longer contract terms |
| What keeps you in | A place on the menu, steady stock, help for the cook | Margin, trade offers, credit | Listing terms, promotions, shelf space |
A team that grew up in general trade gets caught out by four things:
- The dish is your shelf space. Once your tomato paste is in the jollof a buka is known for, the owner reorders weekly and rarely switches. Lose the dish and you lose the outlet.
- Three people, three jobs. The cook picks, the owner fixes the price, and a cashier pays. A good rep knows all three.
- A chain decides once, an independent decides daily. A hotel group agrees a list at head office for every branch. A kibanda decides at the counter, and a new cook can change the order overnight.
- A stockout can cost you the account. A kiosk with no stock misses one sale. A kitchen out of oil at lunch buys from whoever delivers today, and may stay with them.
Your rep opens the account. Your distributor sees the orders.
In Kenya and Nigeria most HoReCa outlets are served by a distributor or wholesaler. Your rep wins the cook and opens the account. The distributor delivers, gives credit and collects. Between visits the owner WhatsApps the distributor for a top-up, or buys at the open market. None of that shows in what your rep booked.
The rule we draw: judge each HoReCa account on what it bought through the distributor, and use the rep’s bookings as a cross-check. That needs the distributor’s outlet sales and unpaid credit beside the rep’s visits, which a distributor management system gives you. It protects the distributor too: an honest partner gets credit for every outlet they served.
The same gap shows up in general trade. AAVA Brands in Nigeria sells to provision stores and supermarkets, but it had no single view of primary and secondary sales. On BeatRoute SFA and DMS it reported 25–30% growth in store-level sellouts (AAVA Brands case study).
How to run a HoReCa sales team in Kenya and Nigeria
Plan fewer, longer calls than on a duka beat, since a cook wants to test a product in their own pot first. BeatRoute for HoReCa sales shows how the app supports each step.
1. Map the outlets, then segment them
You cannot buy a list of the kibandas in Kayole or the bukas in Yaba, and many have no street address. So start with an outlet census: visit, pin and profile each one. Then group them by type, food and buying power. A premium coffee brand gains little from a busy roadside tea kiosk. Customer profiling and segmentation shows reps where their time pays.
2. Give chains a key account manager
Hotel groups, fast-food chains and big caterers decide at head office. A key account manager agrees the deal there, and field reps check that each branch orders what was agreed. Independent eateries are won one by one, by a rep who knows the cook by name.
3. Visit by value and by risk
See your biggest accounts most often, plus any outlet with a shrinking order, a late payment or a new cook. Steady small outlets can top up between visits on WhatsApp or a B2B ordering app, at today’s price. Visit planning software lets you grade outlets and set how often each one is called on, so nobody drifts to the friendliest outlets.
4. Follow every tasting with a return visit
A cooking demo or tasting only earns a menu place if someone comes back. Note what the cook said and send the rep back within days. If you agreed a dish of the month, check that it ran.
5. Watch the numbers that show HoReCa health
Track these as well as calls and orders:
- Active outlets: how many ordered in the past month, split by segment
- Menu listings: where your product sits in a dish or drink on the menu
- Lines per outlet: the number of your SKUs each outlet buys
- Reorder rate: the share that ordered again after a first order or a tasting
- Distributor sales and credit by outlet: what went through the distributor, and what is still unpaid
Selling into hotels, bukas and bars in Nigeria or Kenya? Request a demo set up around your outlet types and distributors.
Other words for HoReCa you will hear
- Food service (foodservice): the wider trade of meals made outside the home, the usual term in North America. It always includes institutional kitchens.
- On-trade and off-trade: brewery terms. On-trade is the bar or hotel where the drink is finished on site, so it overlaps most of HoReCa. Off-trade is the kiosk or supermarket.
- Away-from-home (AFH) or out-of-home (OOH): anything eaten, drunk or used outside the home, including gyms, transport and vending.
Frequently asked questions
Is HoReCa B2B or B2C?
Both. A brand selling cooking oil to a buka is B2B. The buka selling a plate of rice to a customer is B2C. HoReCa sales means the B2B side.
What is the difference between FMCG and HoReCa?
FMCG is a kind of goods: fast-moving foods, drinks and household products. HoReCa is one channel they are sold through, to hotels, restaurants, cafes and caterers, in bulk packs and usually via a distributor.
What are HoReCa products?
Goods packed for commercial kitchens and bars. Beyond the foods in the table above, that means beer and spirits, disposables, cleaning supplies, linen and kitchen equipment.
What is HoReCa marketing?
Marketing aimed at the outlet: branded coolers, glasses and menu boards, training for waiters and bar staff, and stands at hospitality trade fairs.
