The Rise and Rise of Local Convenience Foods in Africa

‘Moin-Moin’ is one of my favourite local foods. It’s a pudding made from a mixture of peeled and ground black-eyed beans (peas), onions and fresh ground peppers. It is a protein-rich food that’s a staple in Nigeria and parts of West Africa.

Moin-Moin is tasty and quite inexpensive and if I had my way, I would make it in my home everyday.

Unfortunately, I can’t.

The main reason I can’t make it at home every day is  moin-moin is a time-consuming and labour-intensive meal to prepare.

The cooking part is quite straightforward; it’s getting the ingredients ready (especially washing and peeling the beans) that can be a pain in the neck.

Now that I think about it, most of the popular and staple foods in my part of the world, like fufu and pounded yam, take a lot of time and effort to prepare.

It’s no surprise that cooking is one of the most time-consuming and labour-intensive chores in many households. The average household in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa often spends between 1 to 4 hours everyday preparing meals.

However, in the last few years, I have noticed an interesting trend of convenience foods that are revolutionizing the way we cook, and how much time we spend in the kitchen.

In this article, I’ll introduce you to an emerging niche in the food business scene across Africa that is creating an interesting range of products that make the cooking experience easier, faster and more convenient. 

3 Reasons Convenience Foods Are Taking Over Africa

Why exactly are more African households becoming open to products and options that make the process of food preparation easier, faster and more convenient?

a) A growing population of working mothers

Back in the day, most mothers were full-time housewives. While the men were sole breadwinners, the mothers’ ‘job’ was to mind the home; do the laundry, take care of the kids and cook the food.

These days, things have changed. Due to growing economic pressures, most families now have two breadwinners. Especially in Africa’s urban areas, more mothers now work at a full-time office job or run their own small business to support their homes.

This means that mothers now have less time to spend in the kitchen. Urban mothers are now more interested in convenient options that will make the cooking process easier and faster.

b) Growing urban population

According to the AfDB, Africa’s urban population has been growing at a rate of 3.5 percent over the last two decades. It is estimated that by 2030, over half of Africa’s population will live in urban areas.

Due to the pressures and demands of city life, people who live in urban areas likely do not spend as much time in the kitchen as people in rural areas.

To save time, effort (and sometimes money), urban dwellers are more likely to eat out at restaurants and fast food outlets. And when they choose to cook, most of them want the process to be as short and painless as possible.

It’s no surprise that most of the convenience foods on the market are heavily sold in urban areas where the consumer demand is highest.

c) Increasing demand for local foods from the African Diaspora

Nearly 200 million Africans now live in the diaspora, and they constitute a significant and lucrative market for African foods.

According to the World Bank's estimates, there are 39 million people of the African Diaspora in North America; 113 million in Latin America; 13.6 million in the Caribbean; and 3.5 million in Europe.

Every year, tons of raw and semi-processed local food products are exported from Africa to these top diaspora markets.

As most of these exported food items are highly perishable, convenience food products -- which are well-processed and packaged -- are meeting the demands of the African diaspora market.

Ridley Road Market in London, a major market for local African food products (photo credit: dailymail.co.uk) 

A few interesting success stories

To give you an idea of how some convenience foods are making waves across the African continent, I’ll share with you a few interesting success stories from Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana.

1) Ayoola Foods, Nigeria: Convenience cooking, at an affordable price

I only found out about Ayoola Foods just about a year ago, but I understand they have been in business for more than a decade. This Nigeria-based business has dominated the local market with an impressive range of convenience foods.

Its products have become very popular across Nigeria and in diaspora markets, and the business exports large quantities of its products to African diaspora communities in the US, Europe and Australia every year.

Some of its products like beans flour (that’s used to make my favourite moin-moin), cassava flour (for fufu, a heavily consumed local staple), yam flour and plantain flour have drastically cut down the cooking time for these dishes by up to 80 percent.

Take my favourite moin-moin for example.

If I had to prepare moin-moin the conventional way, it could take up to two hours from peeling of the beans to the ready-to-eat pudding. But with the beans flour product from Ayoola Foods, it takes less than an hour.

That's amazing from my standpoint.

What’s more, using the flour is easier, faster, neater and more convenient. It’s no surprise the business has become a huge success.

Their cassava flour and yam flour have also significantly cut down the time and effort it takes to make fufu.

2) Cherebut Foods, Kenya: Frozen foods for busy moms

Photo credit: howwemadeitinafrica.com

Cherebut is a young business in Kenya that supplies frozen grains and legumes to grocery chains and supermarkets in Kenya.

Founded by Mary Cherop Maritim who used to work as an office secretary, the idea for this interesting business grew out of sheer necessity. As an office worker she often had to work late and discovered that pre-cooked and frozen foods were always a lifesaver on those days she had to work later than expected.

She decided to start this business on the side to cater to the needs of households that are unable to cook all the time, especially for busy moms.

Mary started producing and packaging cooked and frozen foods from her home. Today, the business has its own factory and employs a dozen people. Better still, demand for her products have been growing quite impressively.

These days, Cherebut produces nearly a ton of food every week for seven grocery chains in Kenya, including Nakumatt, East Africa’s largest supermarket chain.

3) Nkulenu Industries, Ghana: An impressive food export brand

Nkulenu is one of Africa’s oldest indigenous processed food brands. This family business which started several decades ago boasts an impressive range of conveniently-packaged local foods, including bottled palm wine, Kenkey and palm soup.

Photo credit: nkulenu.com

The Palm Soup Base, which is Nkulenu’s flagship product, has sold thousands of units across the world. The product which eliminates the time-consuming and labour-intensive processs of extracting a base from raw palm fruits has been widely embraced.

The palm soup base features quite prominently in West African cuisine as it is a key ingredient in palm soup (popularly known as ‘Banga’ soup) and several other varieties of soups and stews.

Local Convenience foods are the future for Africa

As the population of Africa’s urban areas continue to grow and the pressures of city life prevail, the demand for food products that help to make meal preparation easier, faster and more convenient will continue to increase.

I look forward to a time when all African food products and ingredients will have canned, frozen, ground and processed varieties, so people don’t have to labour for long hours in the kitchen.

Entrepreneurs who can identify niches in this industry will exploit lucrative market opportunities.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John-Paul Iwuoha is an author, impact entrepreneur, business strategist, and founder of Smallstarter Africa. He works with entrepreneurs and investors to start up and grow businesses in Africa. He is also the co-author of 101 Ways To Make Money in Africa, the widely-acclaimed book which reveals several interesting business ideas, market opportunities, and inspiring entrepreneur success stories across Africa.

To read more of his riveting articles on small business and entrepreneurship from across Africa, visit www.smallstarter.com

Follow him on Twitter @JP_Iwuoha for updates, articles, insights and other great stuff.