The Nation Newspaper

Nigerian, others launch online grocery mall

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[dropcap color="#1e73be"]I[/dropcap]n their quest to serve the taste buds of Nigerians in diaspora desirous of homemade cooking, the duo of Tosin Osibodu, a USA-based Nigerian and his American partner, Ian Cohan-Shapiro has launched NigerianFoods.com, an online portal that inspires and enables people to cook, eat, share and learn more about Nigerian cuisine.

Interestingly, Nigerianfoods.com  has succeeded in delivering local Nigerian ingredients and foodstuffs to 47 of 50 states in the United States of America (USA) including Puerto Rico as at June 2015.

Stressing the importance of Nigerian online grocery store to Nigerian-Americans and American locals, Ian Cohan-Shapiro, co-founder Nigerianfoods.com said: “We arrived at providing this service when my school mate at the University, Tosin had to travel several kilometres in search of egusi and eba. Then we agreed on establishing a platform to meet that need for other people who might feel like him.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Tosin Osibodu, co-founder and CEO said: “The idea for NigerianFoods.com came when I was studying in New Hampshire and craving Egusi soup. Finding the ingredients I wanted was impossible – I had to resort to bringing extra suitcases full of ingredients from my trips back to Nigeria.”

According to Cohan-Shapiro, the publicity for Nigerian food stuffs has not been enough and that constitutes the reason why Nigerian recipes are not well known across the world.

“I have been in Nigeria for a year and half now and my best meal is moi-moi and pepper soup. I like both because they are entirely new to me and I find them interesting.

“Nigerian foods mean different things to different people. Pepper soup helps me quench cold and it is just perfect for me. I enjoy moi-moi and already mentioned it to my mum who initially had difficulties preparing it but with our practical videos on cooking, she has tried her hands on it a couple of times except that I am yet to taste and certify her moi-moi,” he stressed.

The platform was established to deliver the widest selection of Nigerian ingredients in the US (over 180 products), so Nigerians in the US can enjoy the taste of homemade cooking without any hassles.

The online grocery store, headquartered in Lagos-Nigeria, has plans to grow its staff strength but currently has 11 employees across Canada, Indonesia and the United States.

“We have different practical videos on the platform with clearly indicates steps and procedures for preparing each recipe desired. We do not have all Nigerian recipe yet but you would be amazed at our collections within these six months of our operations.

“We observed that the identity around food is not singular and there are diverse audiences for Nigerian delicacies. Imagine how we combine Chicken Suya Tacos – to suit the appetite of a Nigerian who visits Mexico where Tacos is commonly found,” Cohan-Shapiro said.

For Osibodu, the group endeavours to meet the need of these diverse audiences who crave Nigerian delicacies while appearing really Nigerian.

The company hires locally and supports exports of local agricultural products thereby contributing to the revenue of the Nigerian Export-Import.

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