Interview With The CEO, Tasty Corridors

Interview with the CEO, Tasty corridors

Why did you decide to be an entrepreneur?

I decided to be an entrepreneur to solve problems and earn an income. I discovered challenges people face in the food industry especially as regards local delicacies and I decided to bridge the gap by proffering innovative solutions in producing and packaging local delicacies into ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook products.

What inspired the idea of the “Tasty corridors” brand and when did you start your initiative?

In 2017, I had completed my NYSC as a law graduate. As it is with most graduates, when I finished school, I applied for multiple jobs unsuccessfully. I decided not to sit idle at home. So, I began researching online for possible businesses I could do. It was in the course of my research that I discovered that people wanted local dishes but had difficulties in getting them either because of distance or the available vendors did not get the recipe quite right. I thought that it was a need I could meet. I say so because I am quite versatile. 

However, I had done a quick survey online and amongst my friends to ask what they thought I was good at and what they will ultimately buy from me and a large number of them agreed that my Ewa Aganyin was especially tasty. Tasty Corridors was born, and the journey began. What started as Ewa Aganyin has now become much bigger.

The brand name was actually inspired by the way we lived back then. I lived in the regular face-me-I-face-you building with no kitchen, everybody cooked on their corridors.

That was where the inspiration for the brand name came from. I knew that whenever I wanted to do the food business, I would want ”Tasty” in the name. The “corridors” came to me during the NBA Conference in 2017 when I thought about the aroma-filled corridors of my sojourn in Ebute Meta. Then the name came together, “Tasty Corridors”. So that was where I got the name “Tasty Corridors” from.

What motivates you and what are the principles that guide your business?

One of my success secrets is that I work very hard. I am very calculative and I am quite innovative. I am ever thinking. Rather than complain about competitors or anything, I look at the gap in the market, “What is it that people are not doing”? How can I fill in the gap? How can I satisfy my customers?

Customer satisfaction is my priority. I put myself in the shoes of customers and look at it from their perspective like “What are the customer’s pain points?”

So, I put in all this work and I let my team know that we are here because of customers and that there is a promise we have made to customers which is to give them that original taste. It is going to be hygienic, innovative, and awesome so I don’t want anything short of that. That has been my guiding principle and I work very hard to live by that principle.

I don’t feel entitled to anything. I network anywhere I go. I am not shy. I talk to people about my business, about my brand and I make meaningful relationships and I try to also bring value to my relationships. I don’t treat any of my staff or team members as less. I take their ideas, look at them and see how we can make them better because teamwork makes the dream work.

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 In your industry, what makes you unique?

The Brand has leveraged technology to provide and package local delicacies in ready-to-cook and eat forms thus providing consumers with a convenient and healthy alternative.

The Brand saves meal preparation time for the modern-day African Woman and provides a better way of preserving food to eliminate food wastage all in line with Goal 2 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which advocates for Zero Hunger.

In addition, the Brand has a catering outfit that specializes in serving local delicacies at events, in bowls at offices, schools, banks, and homes. We also package local foodstuff in a ready-to-cook form for local consumption and export purposes.

We have a best-selling product which is the Aganyin sauce that can last on the shelf for at least 6 months without reheating or refrigerating while maintaining its unique taste.

What has been your greatest entrepreneurial success?

When I started Tasty Corridors in 2017, I started with just Ewa-Aganyin. I was selling Ewa-Aganyin online, but between 2017 and 2021, we have grown and we have increased our products to five (5) product range.  We have also expanded to also catering for events.

Also, we have trademarked our brand names: Aganyin Chick and Tasty Corridors, and we are currently working on our NAFDAC accreditation. Asides from that, the brand has been featured in dailies and international platforms at a point, we were chosen by Renmoney as Brand Ambassador and we were on the face of billboards in Lagos.

We have cooked for the crème de la crème of the society and we have catered at many events so I can say that the brand is growing. Right now, we have changed our packaging to eco-friendly packaging and it’s a significant change for us in the industry.

What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?

My favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur is the ability to think outside the box and create a product or service that actually solves problems. It is very fulfilling to see the ideas in my head materialize into finished products.

What is the most challenging of being an entrepreneur?

There have been challenges especially in terms of getting funds. It is not easy trying to break even in the food processing industry. You need funds to get equipment, production space, permit, and regulatory licenses. At Tasty Corridors, we are currently working on five (5) products for NAFDAC Accreditation.

Electricity is another major challenge. We have to resort to a generator set and that would increase our cost of production because we have to get fuel and so on. If we are unable to fuel the generator set, production would be truncated.

Regulation is also another issue. For instance, we had some challenges when the regulation of dispatch riders was unclear. Dispatch riders are part of our distribution chain because they take care of the delivery. It is not enough to cook; we need to also make sure that the food gets to the consumer safely. Logistics is a whole lot of challenge to food-preneurs like myself.

Tell us about your products/services?

Our brand product offering and services

Currently, we have five product range:

• Aganyin Sauce.

Our ready-to-eat Aganyin sauce is made with chili peppers, unbleached palm oil, herbs, and spices. Our Aganyin Sauce is special, it can last for at least six months on the shelf, without re-heating or refrigerating while maintaining its unique taste.

• Ofada Oil.

The ofada oil is made with palm oil. It takes the stress involved in making the local sauce used to serve Ofada rice or the local ayamase stew or any other local delicacy requiring bleached palm oil. We bleach unadulterated palm oil with herbs and spices so that you do not have to do it again. We bleach it to perfection while retaining its local aroma.

• Original Honey Beans (ready to cook honey beans)

The ready to cook honey beans are sourced from the northern part of Nigeria, especially Maiduguri, and it is pesticide-free! We don’t add any preservative or additive to make it last longer. It makes it safer than other options out there – the beans bought in the market are often loaded with chemicals just to preserve the shelf life. With our Honey Beans, we also save you the stress of having to “pick” the beans. So, we have taken all the stress away for the modern African woman. You just rinse and cook and it is very healthy and nutritious.

• Original Garri Ijebu.

We source our garri ijebu from Ijebu town. It is crisp and very clean. It has that original Ijebu taste which makes it “Garrilicious”, as the name of the product is Garrilicious and it is Garri Ijebu.

• Ofada Rice.

The Ofada Rice is sourced from Egba land in Abeokuta. It is clean, stone-free, and dirt-free. Like our Honey Beans, the Ofada rice has been sifted and picked. All that is needed is just to rinse and cook. It is original ofada rice with the custom ofada aroma.  It is highly nutritious and the aroma alone is enough to tell you that you are eating the original ofada rice.

At Tasty Corridors, we also do event catering – we spice up events with local delicacies. We serve Ewa-aganyin, with fish or Ponmo Alata suwe suwe, Ekuru, peppered snail, peppered gizzard, gizdodo, bole and fish etc. With our local delicacy, we are able to take the guests back in time to their childhood. We have rebranded local delicacies and made them more accessible and more hygienic.