Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / A Taste of Nigeria: The Entrepreneurs Turning Agricultural Waste into Wealth

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A Taste of Nigeria: The Entrepreneurs Turning Agricultural Waste into Wealth · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:01
Hello and welcome to the podcast.
0:04
Today, what we're going to do is OK, today I want to let you guys
0:09
know about some coming developments when it comes to
0:13
promoting Nigerian entrepreneurship.
0:15
And there's a program that is planned that is going to be
0:19
planned by a wealth advisor. I think they're a wealth advisor
0:24
and they're called Z Crest. Z Crest is ZEDCRES tea and my
0:31
wife and I use them for a couple of things and well anyway, this
0:36
is not a promo so don't worry, I'm not advertising any company.
0:40
But The thing is since my wife and I do a couple of things with
0:43
this company every single year, like most companies do in
0:47
Nigeria, they send a hamper. But one cool thing about the
0:53
hampers that we get from Z Crest is that they have been curating
0:58
something from Nigerian entrepreneurs, something that
1:00
they call a Taste of Nigeria. So unlike other companies that
1:04
send you hampers and the hamper is, you know, a Biro, a
1:08
notebook, maybe some cornflakes, maybe some coffee, some butter,
1:11
things like that. The Send Crest has been putting
1:15
together these packages called A Taste of Nigeria and what they
1:19
do is they create a selection of different things that are made
1:25
homegrown here in Nigeria by Nigerian entrepreneurs.
1:29
And I think my wife also agrees as well, excuse me, that it's a
1:34
really OK. Well, first of all, their hamper
1:40
stands apart from other people, other companies because theirs
1:45
is, is different. So it actually is something that
1:48
we look forward to every single year.
1:50
You know, we wonder, you know, what is Z Crest where they give
1:53
us this year because theirs is unique.
1:56
It's a collection of different things that have been made by
1:59
Nigerian entrepreneurs. So their hampers stand apart.
2:04
Also, I think it's a very creative way for them to do CSR.
2:08
That is corporate social responsibility.
2:11
And you know, they're doing corporate social responsibility
2:14
in a way that directly gives back, back to the community.
2:18
You know, they are into wealth management.
2:20
So if they are popularizing or promoting or you know,
2:25
advertising Nigerian homegrown businesses, then I don't know.
2:33
But actually what Zencrest is doing, I think it's really,
2:35
really impressive, really, really wonderful.
2:37
So anyway, it's a taste of Nigeria and we just got there
2:40
2025 Taste of Nigeria edition. Not like we just got it because
2:46
of course, you know, we went home, we travelled to Macadi for
2:48
the holidays and now we're back in Abuja and we've picked up our
2:51
hamper. So it's the Taste of Nigeria
2:54
2025 edition. And I'm just creating today's
2:57
podcast just to share some of the stuff that is in the hamper.
3:00
And the reason why I'm sharing the stuff in the hamper is not
3:02
because I'm trying to promote Zen Crest, but it's because lots
3:06
of times those of us in the entrepreneurial space in
3:08
Nigeria, we have very fixed, very traditional, very limited
3:12
ideas about what kind of businesses are out there and
3:15
what kind of business ideas that we can pursue.
3:18
And I keep talking about how if we expand our horizons, if we
3:21
keep our eyes open, we're going to see that there are lots of
3:24
things that are viable business opportunities that lots of us
3:27
are not even exploring. And I think that is the beauty
3:30
of a Taste of Nigeria, the Taste of Nigeria gift box, a hamper
3:35
that is put together by Z Crest. So let me just go ahead.
3:37
I have the pamphlet here with me and let me just flip through the
3:41
whole thing. Oh, by the way, I'm making
3:44
today's recording out and about in the parking lot as usual.
3:47
So expect to hear some noise in the background.
3:50
So looking through the pamphlet there is OK, There's a message
3:56
from Oyun Oyun Consola Adebuye, she's the head of Brandon
4:04
Communications for Z Crest Group.
4:06
So according to the note that she has here, that the reason
4:09
why the Taste of Nigeria campaign was launched was to
4:12
encourage Nigerians both at home and in diaspora to start
4:16
shopping locally because there are lots of made in Nigeria
4:20
brands that we can patronize. So that's the whole point of the
4:25
campaign. Now they have all kinds of
4:28
featured brands. There are some brewery products.
4:32
Yeah. Alcohol.
4:33
You know, apart from Origin bitters, we actually have some
4:35
really interesting alcohol businesses.
4:40
Adult beverages. Let's just put it that way.
4:43
Let's see, what else. OK.
4:44
There's also some homegrown chocolate offerings, Beauty and
4:50
skin care. Let's see what else, foods,
4:55
food, food processing, there's jam, what else?
5:00
Luxury and lifestyle, crafts, different kinds of things that I
5:06
have there. So let me just run you through a
5:09
couple of things from the selection that we received this
5:12
year. OK, so now one business that is
5:14
there is called Happy Coffee and of course, that is Nigerian
5:18
coffee. Although the first time I saw
5:20
it, I was wondering coffee, like serious coffee drinkers drink
5:24
coffee. Now the reason so I drink
5:27
Nigerian coffee. Now, the reason why I was
5:28
thinking that is because I have an uncle who drinks coffee.
5:33
He actually is the priest who celebrated my wedding.
5:38
I mean, he was the officiating priest when I was getting
5:40
married to my wife. And the guy is a mad coffee
5:42
drinker, always, always, always drinking coffee.
5:46
And so when I saw it, he actually was the first person
5:49
that I thought about and I figured I'd give him the coffee
5:52
because me, I'm not really a coffee drinker.
5:53
I just take normal, you know, Lipton, you know, I'm not fancy
5:56
like that, you know, just I take normal stuff.
5:59
So I was wondering if Nigerians would drink a Nigerian coffee.
6:04
But it's good that Nigerians are getting into this space because
6:10
I think coffee is originally like an Ethiopian thing, if I
6:13
remember correctly. I can't remember.
6:14
I think it's an Ethiopian thing. And then we have coffee hubs in
6:17
I think Kenya. I think Kenya is also big in the
6:22
coffee trade. So it's nice that Nigerian
6:24
business is also throwing their hat in the ring.
6:26
So the business is called Happy Coffee and was founded by
6:29
Princess Adeyinka Tekena. Yeah.
6:35
OK. Yes, Princess Adeyinka Tekena.
6:37
So apart from her being the founder of the of the brand
6:40
Happy Coffee, she's also the convener of the Lagos Coffee
6:44
Festival. So for those of you who are in
6:47
Lagos and for those of you who figure who, who think of
6:50
yourselves as coffee connoisseurs, you know, you have
6:53
something to look forward to in Lagos.
6:56
And the Princess Adeinka graduated from Harold Washington
6:59
College and she has a business management degree from the
7:02
University of Phoenix in Chicago.
7:05
Then let's see what else, OK. She has over 15 years experience
7:10
in business. What else?
7:13
Anyway, so that's just a little bit about her profile and the
7:16
name of the business is Happy Coffee.
7:17
So that's one of the things that I received that we received my
7:20
wife and I in our hamper from Z Crest.
7:24
Then there is one that we did not receive, but I wish we
7:29
received. And this is a Baturi brewery,
7:33
and it's founded by Bio Ijasa. And OK, he's described as the
7:40
production director and the brew master.
7:42
Yeah, brew master. That means he's the he's the
7:45
chief, the chief alcoholic in the business.
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He's the one that makes all the makes all the beer.
7:50
So he's described here as a brand builder, and he's
7:54
passionate about advancing Africa's craft beer movement.
7:57
Movement. Now, craft beer.
7:59
What is craft beer? So for those of us who come from
8:03
drinking families, we all know beer, all right, Well, we all
8:07
know beer. We know rock, we know 33, we
8:10
know Star, we know Golda, we know Guinness, we know you know
8:15
all of those things. We know the traditional Laga
8:17
beer, you know, that is made by, you know, established
8:21
businesses. Now there is this thing that
8:26
well in my own opinion anyway, because I first know about craft
8:28
beer from you know, the Americans, Americans and then
8:32
some of the Europeans like the Germans.
8:34
There's this thing called craft beer or artisanal beer.
8:37
Now craft beer or artisanal beer is when you know, people get
8:43
together, excuse me and start making their own unique flavor
8:48
of beer. So like me now for instance, I
8:50
can say, OK, maybe I like honey and beer is too bitter.
8:54
So therefore I was not start creating my own kind of honey
8:57
that we brew it and then we mix it with honey or something like
9:00
that when I start creating our own unique flavors of beer.
9:05
So that is something that was already done in the Caribbean by
9:09
the by the Jamaicans. And excuse me, I hear that that
9:13
is where ginger beer comes from. So it is beer, yes, but in the
9:17
way you brew it, you know, add ginger to the whole thing, you
9:20
know, just to give the thing some, you know, give it some
9:23
life, make it unique, make it different.
9:26
So it looks as if the craft beer thing has now entered Africa and
9:32
has now entered Niger. So this guy, Bio E Jason, is
9:36
trying to take advantage of this movement and he has thrown his
9:39
hat in the ring and he's making his own beer.
9:42
And The thing is called the the brewery is called Baturi
9:46
Brewery. Although I wonder why he will
9:48
call it Baturi because, well, at least in my own language anyway,
9:50
Baturi means white, you know, like Oyibo.
9:53
But you're trying to take advantage of an African
9:55
movement. So how would you name your
9:56
company after something Oyibo? But then again, he tracks me as
10:00
a Yoruba boy because his name is Bayo.
10:02
Of course, he just saw if I'm pronouncing it correctly.
10:05
So maybe Batura means something else in in Yoruba language.
10:10
But you can see that we have Nigerian operators who are
10:14
looking at different, are looking around and trying
10:18
different businesses. You know, not everybody is
10:21
saying I must be a web designer, I must be into graphics, I must
10:25
be a wedding photographer or I must be a lawyer or an engineer
10:28
or a doctor. People are trying different
10:30
things. Princess Tekena is saying let us
10:33
try coffee, then battery. He's saying that all of us, you
10:37
should be care guides, we should try beer.
10:41
That's what he's doing, craft, craft beer.
10:44
So let's see, what are some things around we can say about
10:49
him? OK, His brewery is in Victoria
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Island in Lagos. And let's see, OK, he's an award
10:59
winner. I think he won the Black Gold's
11:02
bronze. The golds?
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Which one is Black Gold bronze? I'm confused though.
11:07
Anyway, this is an African beer cup in 2019.
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Oh, I love my people. Can you imagine there's an
11:13
African, a cup, African Cup, international cup around beer?
11:19
That's why I love Africans. We come up with the coolest
11:20
stuff. I would like to take part in
11:22
that kind of competition. I hope they open it to local
11:25
people, I mean, to individual participants who can drink the
11:28
most amount of beer. I'd like to go there and let me
11:30
see if I can win an award. So he also won awards, multiple
11:35
awards at the World Beer Awards in 2022.
11:39
This is really, really interesting.
11:40
So Battery Brewery, this was not in our basket.
11:43
I wish it was there. But yeah.
11:46
So this is one kind of business that lots of some Nigerians are
11:49
trying out. The artisanal beer space, the
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craft beer space, then Loom Chocolates.
11:57
So this was founded by Uzo Amaka Igweke.
12:01
Hope I'm pronouncing her name correctly.
12:03
She's the founder of Loom Craft Chocolate.
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And yes, we did get this one in the bag.
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There are a cocoa processing company based in Abuja, Nigeria.
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Oh, she's even in my back here itself 'cause I'm based in
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Abuja. And that's for those of you who
12:16
don't know. Sorry, I didn't even do any
12:17
introductions. My name is Tavishma here.
12:19
I'm the host of the podcast. I'm a former lawyer turned the
12:22
business consultant, and this podcast is normally devoted to
12:27
solving business problems, especially from a sales and
12:30
business development perspective.
12:33
But I was so impressed by this hamper that we received or this
12:37
gift box that we received from Z Crest that I'm making today's
12:40
episode just to show you guys, this is the wonderful stuff that
12:42
was in the box. And then also to inspire some of
12:45
you who are listening that perhaps when it comes to
12:48
business, you can, you know, shine your eye and look out for
12:50
other business ideas and not just do the same more things
12:53
that everybody else is doing. So if you love the podcast, then
12:57
please subscribe on Spotify, on Apple iTunes, YouTube, wherever
13:02
you listen. And if you'd love to connect
13:04
with me, you can call, you can send me a text message, you can
13:07
send me a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
13:14
Now back to Loom Craft Chocolate founded by Ozoamaka Igweke based
13:19
in Abuja. So she has a bachelor's degree
13:23
in engineering from the University of Nigeria, Asuka.
13:26
Now the reason why I'm saying this is because you know, the
13:29
1st girl that I spoke of, you know, graduated first class, you
13:33
know, Chicago, Washington, DC, blah, blah, blah.
13:37
Some of you are not saying, some of you start saying damn, damn.
13:40
You know, I just got back, you know, Nigerian diaspora, but I'm
13:44
a local person, you know, we don't have those opportunities.
13:47
So you have it here. There's somebody that finished
13:50
from University of Nigeria, Asuka and she's the founder of
13:54
Loom Crafts Chocolate. So she let's see.
14:00
OK, She studied business administration.
14:06
Yeah, business administration. OK Alliance.
14:09
OK, no, let me not say that one before because you give some of
14:12
you an excuse to say she went abroad.
14:13
So let me not let me not tell you where she did her master's
14:16
in business administration. But anyway, she worked closely
14:21
with over 1000 cocoa farmers because she wants to ensure fair
14:26
trade and sustainability in the supply chain.
14:28
Now this is what fair trade and sustainability means.
14:34
Well, I put it OK, from studying social studies in in, in primary
14:38
school, we know that there are lots of companies from the West
14:41
that came here and we're extracting raw materials, local
14:47
resources here and then taking it abroad and then doing value
14:51
add and then selling the thing back here at higher prices.
14:54
In other words, you come and take cocoa from here and you buy
14:56
it cheap, then you shipped it, you ship it to the United
15:00
Kingdom and then you process it and then you make you make Bon
15:04
Vita and then you now sell it back to Nigeria at an expensive
15:07
prices. So these are the kinds of things
15:09
that are around fair trade, you know, like products are being
15:15
sourced from here cheaply and being sold back here
15:18
expensively. So companies like Loom craft
15:22
chocolate, like people like Uzo Amaka Igweki, when they get
15:26
involved in this thing and they're worried about fair trade
15:28
and sustainability, they're just trying to make sure that we're
15:31
sourcing from local communities. But then people in the local
15:34
community should be able to afford these sorts of things as
15:37
well. So we source the cocoa from
15:39
here, but Nigerians should be able to buy the thing as well.
15:43
And then sustainability in the value chain just means you don't
15:46
just keep on extracting and extracting, but you also find
15:49
ways to make sure that the the value, the value chain
15:54
continues. Like, take for instance, timber,
15:56
you know, companies come here, they cut down trees and then
15:58
they leave and then they create expensive carpentry stuff, you
16:02
know, desks and all kinds of things and then sell them
16:05
expensive back to Nigeria. But that sustainability would
16:08
mean the company is not just cutting down trees, but the
16:12
company is also trying to plant trees in return.
16:15
So like, let everything continue.
16:17
Then they also work with other ingredients, not just
16:22
chocolates, but they also work. That's Loom, Kraft chocolates,
16:25
UZO, Amakas people. They also work in coffee.
16:28
They also deal work with sesame, cashew and ginger because the
16:34
chocolate has a different flavours.
16:37
If you want to know how good the chocolate is, you have to ask my
16:39
wife because me, I'm not really a chocolate person.
16:41
I don't like dark chocolate. I prefer white chocolate.
16:43
But then my sister-in-law, you guys know that she's a she's a
16:47
chef and a professional Baker. Whenever I say I like white
16:50
chocolate, she will say Uncle T, what are you saying?
16:52
There's no such thing as white chocolate.
16:53
Now all chocolate is black. That white chocolate is just
16:56
milk. You just carry milk and put
16:58
sugar. That white chocolate is not
16:59
real. White chocolate does not exist.
17:01
So my answer to you guys is I don't care.
17:05
I don't care if white chocolate is not a thing.
17:07
I prefer white chocolate. I don't like that chocolate.
17:09
So Ozoamaka, keep up the good work.
17:13
But honestly, I don't know if your stuff is good because I
17:15
prefer the white stuff. So Ozoamaka, I beg you guys,
17:19
just start making white chocolate.
17:20
I'm just begging you. That's for those of us who don't
17:22
like dark chocolate because dark chocolate is bitter and some of
17:26
us have sweet tooth. Then also, Amaka Iguayke is a
17:30
recipient of the Tony Lumelu Foundation Award.
17:35
OK, she's, she's an alumni of the Tony Alumelu Foundation.
17:38
That means she graduated from there.
17:42
Let's see. OK, let me move on. 17 minutes.
17:45
Now. This is another one that I
17:46
wanted to be in the basket, but they did not give us Z Crests.
17:50
Z Crest, you should put this one in my basket next year or you
17:56
consola at the boy. If any of you are listening to
17:58
this thing and you know, or you consola at the boy.
18:00
She's the head of brands and communications for Z Crest.
18:03
Send this podcast episode to her.
18:05
Tell her that in 2026, my Christmas hamper, they should
18:09
put this one here. Now.
18:10
This is what I want them to put. There's a business here that is
18:13
called Pedro's and Pedros is an Ogoro business.
18:18
Yes, you heard me correctly, Pedros Ogoro.
18:23
In fact, let me read from the hamper.
18:25
Ogoro is a traditional dispilled, sorry distilled
18:29
spirit from the oil palm or raffia palm tree primarily
18:33
consumed in Nigeria and across West and Central Africa.
18:38
So yes, Ogoro, the reason why I wanted this Ogoro in my hamper
18:42
is because since I was born and now I am old, I have never
18:48
tasted a Google. I have never seen it, I have
18:51
never smelled it. So I'm curious, I want to know
18:54
what a Google is because, you know, in my own part of the
18:56
world, what we have is Buruku 2. We have BKT, then we also have
19:01
palm wine and you know, all those kinds of things.
19:03
But behind a Google Goguru, I've never heard it.
19:05
I heard that thing is mad. That is mad that is is for men,
19:09
senior men and senior women that you're a lightweight if you're
19:13
if you're a soft touch, you don't try this thing because the
19:15
thing will just fry your brain. So yeah.
19:18
So please, Z Crest next year, put Pedros, put Oguguru in my
19:23
basket. Let me let me see what this
19:27
Oguguru craze is like. Let me try it and let me be
19:30
convinced or let me be confused about how Oguguru is superior to
19:33
other drinks. Then the founders of Pedros
19:39
Oguguru, the founders are Chibu Akukwe and Lola Pedro.
19:45
So Chibu Akukwe is a guy and then Lola Pedro a girl.
19:49
SO2 founders. Now they claim that Ogogoro
19:54
flourished in Western Africa until the colonialists got here
19:59
and then that led to a decline. And if that is true, then it's a
20:02
pity because you look as if the colonialists came here and they.
20:09
Deemphasize the Ogo guru Boruku to palm wine all our local
20:15
things that we distill here. And then they now brought in,
20:20
you know, malt liquor and all the, you know, good process
20:24
stuff from from Scotland, from UK, from, you know, all those
20:29
other places. But anyway, if that's the case,
20:32
it's a good thing that we're seeing a, a revival offer some
20:38
of this traditional stuff. So Z Crest, please, next year,
20:40
make sure you put Pedro's or Gogoro in my basket.
20:44
Let me try this stuff. Let me try this good stuff.
20:47
So the founders again, Chubu Akukui and Lola Pedro, besides
20:52
all these people that are mentioning, I'm mentioning their
20:54
names because I want you to actually go and check them up.
20:57
Go and look for them on LinkedIn.
20:58
Go and look for them on social media, you know, go on and
21:01
follow them. You know, when you start
21:04
following people like this on social media, consuming their
21:06
content, things like that, it opens up your eyes to a world
21:10
that you are not even considering.
21:12
So can you see some of us were thinking of business.
21:15
We thought about the obvious stuff, web design, photography.
21:18
We did not know that oh Google can be a business.
21:24
I wish my father was alive today so he can see this, that people
21:26
are using Oh Google as business. Then there's another beauty
21:30
called Dang that is Dang exclamation mark, so I'm
21:36
assuming it's pronounced Dang and it's a skin care brand.
21:41
And the founder is Efedao Agoro. So she's the founder.
21:47
Let's see what else OK says here that she has a rich background
21:50
in storytelling and community engagement.
21:53
OK. She relocated to the United
21:56
States to expand her business. Oh, OK, she don't check back.
22:00
She has left us yeah OK, well, and if you're still in Nigeria,
22:04
we can we can support her. So Dang is sold on e-commerce.
22:10
She has an e-commerce retail platform.
22:12
So you have to buy this online. Yeah is a pretty sheet on
22:16
jackpot. But anyway, she's still one of
22:17
Russia. So I check out and support her.
22:20
So Dang beauty and skin care founder Iffeda your agoro.
22:25
Then there's another one Cocari coconuts.
22:29
Of course, this one is food. You don't like how people do
22:32
plantain ships. So that's what this woman has
22:34
done the same thing to Coconuts and Cashew.
22:39
A woman's name is Ebu Fellowdu. She has a 20 year career in
22:46
publishing, environmental advocacy, brand storytelling and
22:51
of course agriculture. So she's the founder at Kokari
22:55
Coconuts and Company. Kokari spelled K OK A RI.
23:03
Then what they do is they turn raw materials like cashew into
23:09
snacks and stuff like that. So cookery, coconuts and
23:14
companies OK. They currently work with over
23:16
5000 farmers. By the way.
23:20
This is one of the reason why I like some of these enterprises
23:24
and is also the reason why I say SME is the way forward.
23:27
Small and medium scale enterprises and local, local
23:32
entrepreneurship, homegrown entrepreneurship, because you
23:35
can see that the multiplier effect that it has.
23:37
So Co carry coconuts. She's doing business with over
23:41
5000 farmers then. So let me flip through the
23:45
brochure again, or as my people like to say, the brochure.
23:50
Let me shift to the brochure. And then Uzo Maka Iguaiki long
23:54
chocolates, she's working with 1000 farmers.
23:57
So you can see that the business founded by two young women, Uzo
24:02
Amaka Igweke and EBO Feludu, those two businesses responsible
24:09
for employing over 6000 farmers in Nigeria is the reason why I
24:16
say this is the way forward. Anyway, let me keep moving.
24:21
OK, this is almost 30 minutes. So cookery, coconuts.
24:25
OK, then this one was in the basket.
24:27
Is it duches DULCES? Is it duces duces jam or duces
24:33
jam founded by Ogua Denzel Ogochuku.
24:37
How you name how you name your son Denzel?
24:40
What are you feeling like? And there's Ogua Denzel
24:43
Ogochuku, who's the founder of Deuces Jam, the Lagos based jam.
24:48
I think the one that was in our basket was was I think was
24:52
pineapple flavor. Yeah, pineapple flavor then
24:56
looks like what inspired Ogua, Denzel Gochuku.
25:00
Let me just say Denzel Gochuku, let me remove that Ogua because
25:03
of this Denzel Washington. So let me hide this guy, Denzel
25:06
Gochuku. So what got Denzel Gochuku to
25:10
get into business because he noticed how much fruit goes to
25:14
waste in Nigeria, seasonal fruit.
25:17
And look, see, this thing is mad.
25:20
I'm telling you, mad with a capital MAD.
25:23
When my brother and I were involved in agricultural
25:25
business and we were trying to export charcoal, sesame seed and
25:30
trying to sell soy, we discovered according to the
25:37
reports that come in from I can't remember Bengal state
25:40
something something I can't remember one of one of our
25:42
agencies back in Bengal state, according to them.
25:45
And some people say that it is worse because you know that
25:48
government is inefficient when it comes to keeping records.
25:50
So according to official sources in Benue State, 90% of tomato
25:58
production goes to waste in Benue State.
26:05
For mango, I can't remember, for mango, I can't remember, for
26:09
oranges, I can't remember. But for tomato, 90% goes to
26:13
waste. 90 There is a lot of fruit waste that happens all
26:20
over the country because value chain, you know, no to no to
26:24
tap. There's a lady I'm following on
26:26
LinkedIn. What she does is she they, they
26:29
have a strawberry farms in Lagos.
26:31
Sorry, strawberry farms in Jos, they're produced in Jos and then
26:34
there are manufacturing facilities are based in Lagos.
26:37
And during the Christmas holiday, she was talking about
26:40
how because of issues in the value chain, you know, people
26:43
issues with transport and you know, stuff like that, they had
26:48
a lot of produce that was going bad because I think it couldn't
26:50
fly them out on time. So there's a lot of ways that is
26:53
in the agricultural value chain in Niger.
26:58
And so it is good that there are people who are trying to build
27:02
businesses within this sector. So Denzel Ugochuku is taking
27:06
advantage of this waste and he's making jam with things that
27:10
otherwise would have been wasted.
27:12
Then there are other companies that I've seen on LinkedIn, for
27:15
instance, who run cold room businesses.
27:18
So in other words, they say you're producing stuff, whether
27:21
tomatoes or whatever that normally spoil quick week.
27:25
You can be in business with them so that they can produce a cold
27:28
room for you so that you can store these tomatoes for a while
27:31
before they are moved. You know, things like that and
27:33
the people that are getting involved in agricultural value
27:35
chain. But you can see, like I was
27:38
saying at the top of the podcast, that there are
27:41
opportunities for business in different sectors.
27:46
It doesn't just have to be the easy everyday one that we see
27:48
because like now everybody wants to do fintech or not everybody
27:51
wants to do AI. You do not.
27:53
Everybody must not do AI. Everybody must not do AI.
27:58
AI is what is raining. Now.
27:59
That doesn't mean that you must all do AI.
28:02
There are other things that we can make money with.
28:06
Then there's another one that was in the basket.
28:08
OK, Lim Lim. The company's name is Lim Lim.
28:11
The founder is Adeola Balogo. She also also into agricultural
28:17
food processing. OK Yeah.
28:20
What she does is she produces freeze dried fruits and snacks.
28:26
I wonder how you do that Because in my own mind, whenever I hear
28:29
freeze or whenever I hear dried, I always think of heat.
28:32
Like you dry the thing out. So I don't know which one is
28:34
freeze drying. So interesting technology.
28:36
So she freeze dries our fruits and snacks.
28:39
So I think what we got in our own basket was dried, dried up
28:45
pineapples or something like that.
28:46
And that tasted pretty interesting.
28:49
And Adeola Bologo, before she started the business, she had
28:53
leadership roles at Unilever, leadership roles at Cadbury
28:58
Nigeria, Unilever. They're the ones that make, what
29:01
do they make again? I mean like toothpaste and stuff
29:03
like that. And then Cadbury, of course,
29:05
Cadbury or no Cadbury, what did they make?
29:07
Milk born Vita, I think the ones that make you cook me low.
29:12
I can't remember anyway, but all that kind of stuff.
29:14
So she has woken. She has say woken.
29:17
Forgive me. So Adela Bologo has worked with
29:20
these people before uni level and then Cabri.
29:22
So let me move on now. One that we discovered that last
29:27
year or two years ago and we like every single time we
29:30
receive this basket from Z Crest Taste of Africa is Dala DALA
29:36
Dala liquor. And when we say liquor, you know
29:40
that we're talking about alcohol, alcohol with a capital
29:44
E now dollar liquor. The first time that we opened
29:48
the basket and I saw this thing, my mind wanted to bust.
29:51
I said, what is this? I looked at yes, I showed my
29:55
wife. I said please read this label
29:56
correctly. She laughed.
29:58
She said, am I saying correctly? She said yes, my dear was
30:00
incorrectly. This is what they do with dollar
30:03
liquor. All of us, you know about no
30:06
more, especially for those of us who grew up in Lagos, I don't
30:11
like about more quite frankly because well, it tastes nice.
30:13
But one day, one of my guys bought 1 he gave me.
30:16
So as I took that bottom one, I squeeze it down there to suck
30:19
it. I saw Margot inside.
30:20
I said the guy just moved the mango through it.
30:23
When I popped dressed in his mouth, I was like how can you do
30:26
that? He said that's how it is now.
30:28
That is normal. Now once in a while you see
30:29
Margot inside Balumo. So since that day, now in Saint
30:35
Gregory's College, Bali, since that day, me, I do not touch a
30:38
balumo, even though The thing is Swedish, kind of sour.
30:43
But anyway, these boys are dala liquor.
30:47
They have found a way to take a balumo IBO people call it udara.
30:53
They have found a way to take a balumo udara and they have used
30:57
it to make alcohol with a capital A.
31:02
The thing blew my mind. Who thought that you can take a
31:05
baluma and turn it into strong drink?
31:10
Anyway, that is what those people have done at Dana Liquor.
31:13
So the first time we received it, my wife and I would say, you
31:16
know what? Wait, when the children go to
31:18
bed, then we will baptize this thing.
31:21
So we chilled it in the fridge, then we'll put on some Netflix
31:25
and then we now started sleeping this thing.
31:27
That thing is sweet die sweet diet, although the alcohol
31:31
content is high. Oh, so if you are a if you are a
31:34
lightweight and you're drinking this thing, drink it softly,
31:38
softly, take it easy. Be seeping, be seeping, seeping,
31:42
seeping. Don't rush it.
31:43
It is sweet, but don't rush it because that is strong drink.
31:47
It is for mature men and mature women.
31:49
It's not for anybody. So there's alcoholic and that's
31:55
why I love dollar liquor. So when we opened a basket this
31:59
year from Zed Crest and I saw that line inside, I said
32:03
correct, correct, correct, correct.
32:05
So we have another one this time, but now my wife is on
32:07
medication so we can't drink the alcohol.
32:09
So I just we're just waiting. So when she finished her alcohol
32:13
chill it now put on Netflix, you know, maybe like a Friday night
32:17
and then we'll just enjoy ourselves.
32:18
We seep until Daybreak. Those are the joys of life.
32:22
So I was like, so Dalla liqueur now was founded.
32:28
The founder is Ore Ogunesi. Yes, Ore Ogunesi and the reason
32:36
why he started the company. Of course, now, you know,
32:37
wasting the value chain. They wanted to be able to take
32:43
advantage of abalo more in the product so that it's available
32:47
all year round. Because like I said when I was
32:49
talking about the other company, there's so much waste in the
32:51
system that we create these things.
32:54
We don't store them, we don't process them, we don't do value
32:56
hard, we don't do anything. So a lot of them just waste
32:59
then. So it says here in the pamphlet
33:02
that after 2009, after experimenting with different
33:07
hybrid methods, they were able to come up with a liquor that
33:10
would capture the sweet and the sour flavor of Abaluma.
33:15
And that is how Dollar Liquor DALA was born.
33:20
And the guy behind this madness is Orre Ogunlessi is Ogunlessi
33:25
Ogunlessi. I'm not sure.
33:27
And yeah, that's it. So for me, Dalla liqueur is the
33:31
absolute star of the Z Quest basket.
33:35
And I'm waiting for my wife to finish her medication so that we
33:38
can baptize this drink. Because that Dalla liqueur is
33:42
mad, I won't lie. It's correct stuff.
33:44
Good stuff, good stuff. But remember, it is strong
33:47
drink. Mature people only, even though
33:51
it tastes sweet, be sipping it softly, softly before you start,
33:56
before you go man and start dancing on your heads.
33:59
Then finally and don't worry, finally, finally, finally there
34:04
is tea, quad foods that is tea and then QUART.
34:11
And this lady, basically, she's just an A beans entrepreneur.
34:17
She does all kinds of things with beans, beans pastes, you
34:21
know, for mothers and babies in that early stage, Beans, beans,
34:28
flakes. I think the one that was in our
34:30
basket is Akara Flakes. Let's see, what else?
34:35
Any good stuff? Good stuff, real good stuff.
34:37
But one reason why I am proud of this one in particular is
34:41
because for those of you who've been listening to the podcast
34:44
for a while, you know that I do free mentoring for some
34:48
organizations. One of those organizations is
34:51
Faith Foundation in Lagos. They are an NGO that has
34:57
entrepreneurial development at the back of their their hearts,
35:00
at the back of their minds. So they keep working on Nigerian
35:03
entrepreneurs to try and give them the training that they need
35:07
so that they can grow and scale their businesses.
35:09
Now, this lady behind Tea Quad Foods was actually one of my
35:14
early mentees, excuse me, one of the early people that was
35:18
supposed to mentor with Faith Foundation.
35:21
And even then, I knew that she was going to do well and that
35:24
she was going to do far. That's why I'm going to go far.
35:28
Now. How I knew that was because when
35:30
you are assigned a mentor with the Faith Foundation, you are
35:33
given a choice to ask which kinds of mentor you want.
35:36
And honestly, honestly speaking, anybody who goes through this
35:41
kind of program and asks for a a mentor who has specialty in
35:47
sales or in marketing, I know that they will go far because
35:50
these people have their eyes on the ball.
35:52
They know what matters. They know that it is revenue
35:55
that matters. So when they are looking for a
35:58
mentor, they are looking for someone who has expertise with
36:01
getting the business close to revenue.
36:07
And most people during the mentee session, you know, when
36:10
they first introduce you, you know, everybody will switch off
36:12
their camera. But for her, I noticed that when
36:15
she came on, she came on bold, she came on live.
36:18
She opened the video and she was there and she was ready.
36:21
And I told her she will go far because lots of people are shy,
36:24
but she she's not shy. She laughed.
36:26
He said actually she was a bit nervous.
36:28
I said no, I understand it's normal, but despite the fact
36:32
that she was nervous, she showed up and she was ready to go and I
36:35
knew that she was going to be go far.
36:37
So I am not surprised that she was selected by Z Crest.
36:40
That's not for selected by Z Crest to be here.
36:43
And I've also done better other people within Faith Foundation
36:49
as well. Now Faith Foundation have
36:50
partnered up with the OCI F that's the Orange Corners
36:54
Innovation Fund. I think there are these the, the
36:58
NGO from the royal family of is it Denmark or Sweden or
37:02
whatever. Please, those of you from that
37:04
part of the world, you know, no Vex, no Vex.
37:06
Please don't be annoyed. I'm not very travelled.
37:09
So I mix up, you know, some things.
37:11
Yes. I'm one of those people that,
37:12
you know, when I see an an Indian person and I see a
37:14
Pakistani person, you know, I wonder what's the difference?
37:17
Because as far as I'm concerned, you look the same, you sound the
37:19
same. So don't be angry.
37:21
So, yeah, I'm one of those Nigerians.
37:23
I'm not too cultured. So whether Denmark or Sweden or
37:26
but that Shah OCIF, they've partnered with the Faith
37:29
Foundation and they offer financial support now to
37:34
entrepreneurs. And I've happened to mentor,
37:39
gosh, I've lost track. I've to mentor lots of people
37:42
who have come through that program and I've, I've noticed
37:46
anyway that people, like I said, people who ask for a mentor with
37:51
sales or marketing expertise, those people are usually revved
37:55
up and they are ready and ready and willing to go.
37:58
So I was really happy to see T Quart Foods, TQTQUART.
38:07
I'm really happy to see that in the Z Crest basket this year.
38:13
So my own point of advice to those of you who are going to
38:17
join, join, what are they called for those who are going to join,
38:25
Incubators, accelerators, you know, things like that.
38:27
It would help if you also look towards mentors.
38:33
I mean, of course, look for the mentor that has specialty in
38:35
whatever it is that you think you are deficient in, but also
38:39
help. If you can hold a mentor close
38:41
to you who also has specialty when it comes to sales and
38:47
marketing, it will really help. So anyway, that's it and that's
38:51
all for today. I know today's zone seemed a
38:53
little long and windy, but I just wanted to share you guys
38:57
two things, let you guys know some developments.
38:59
So this Taste of Nigeria campaign I heard, I can't
39:02
confirm because I know one or two people who work at the
39:05
company. So I've heard that this thing is
39:07
going to become a business exhibition either this year or
39:11
next year. So for those of you who are
39:13
based in Lagos, you know, keep your ears open because it will
39:16
be nice to actually go there and see these things live so that if
39:20
you have never had fermented Abaluma before, you can go and
39:24
sip on some fermented Abaluma or this other guy, Pedro's Oguguru.
39:28
If you're like me, since when you are small, you've been here
39:31
Oguguru, you've never seen Oguguru, you'll be able to go to
39:33
Lagos and be able to sip Oguguru.
39:36
Well, please before you go, make sure you eat something first.
39:40
Make sure you have some EBA, preferably before you leave
39:45
because it is not a good idea to be seeping mature drink on an
39:49
empty stomach. Please listen if they turn this
39:53
thing into a food and beverage fare and you go there because
39:57
you want to sip on fermented abalomo or you want to go and
40:02
take some nice ogoro, please. It is not a good idea to be
40:07
sipping on ogoro when what you eat for breakfast is rice.
40:11
Make sure you eat amala, make sure you eat food before you go
40:13
and try that thing. So that's why I'm making today's
40:16
recording. But primarily I want you guys to
40:18
know that look, when it comes to business, you can find business
40:23
like anywhere. Skin care, Ogoro, chocolate,
40:28
what else? Carpentry.
40:30
Yes, woodwork was also featured in this one.
40:32
Carpentry, What else? Anyway, you had all the
40:39
different ideas that we have explored so far.
40:41
Not everybody has to do it do AI because 2025 was year of AI.
40:47
Everybody was doing AI, startup AI this, AI that, AI that like
40:52
we don't always have to go with the trends.
40:55
There are lots of things that we can do.
40:56
Nigeria is a big country. We have lots of resources, there
40:59
are plenty and plenty and plenty ideas that we can start.
41:03
Then it's also nice to see reverse Jack back in in effects,
41:07
you know, people who left, but we're coming back to start
41:10
businesses, start businesses here.
41:13
But of course, I'm not saying if the time comes to Jack Bar,
41:16
don't Jack Bar, you know, if the opportunity comes for you and
41:18
you can afford it, you know, by all means do what you think is
41:21
best for you and your family. It's just nice to see that not
41:24
everybody's taking off. There's some people who are
41:26
coming back. So thank you very much for your
41:30
time and attention. Remember, if you'd love to
41:33
connect with me, you can call, send me a text message or
41:35
WhatsApp message on 08064662140. Thank you very much for your
41:42
time and attention. And don't worry, the next
41:44
episode definitely will be sales related and I'll try and make
41:47
sure that it's not this long. So that's it.
41:50
I'll catch you all some other time.