Victoria Island, Lagos, witnessed heavy vehicular activities recently during the 8th edition of GTCO Food and Drink Festival
For the three days the programme lasted, many people from different walks of life trooped to the event to participate in what is being termed as ‘the biggest food and drink festival in Africa.’
Various cuisines, delicacies, and drinks, ranging from cocktails/mocktails, handy snacks, street foods, ready-to-eat, restaurants’, dry and packaged goods were all on display. From fresh local palm wine to assorted foreign drinks, they were all there.
Over 33 exhibitors had cocktails and mocktails on display while 35 vendors were available to tempt visitors with handy snacks from various Climes.
Street foods like abacha, grill and chops, suya, roasted plantain, maize, yam, potato, French fries’ etcetera were not left out as they were on display from 29 vendors.
About 36 vendors had ready-to-eat foods like smoky jollof rice, etcetera to tantalize visitors.
‘Chi Tang Twinwaters’, ‘Out of the Box Restaurant’ were two of the 18 restaurants that graced the festival, with over 19 exhibitors of dry and packaged goods like ‘Farm and Spice’, ‘The Coconut Lady’, ‘Tapiokies’, ‘Eden’s Honey’ on ground to tantalize visitors.
Every visitor, no matter their taste and needs, had drinks and food on display to meet their cravings.
The festival, being the 8th edition, organized by the Guaranty Trust Holding Company [GTCO] has become the premier culinary event in Africa, bringing together tens of thousands of people from across the continent and beyond to support and celebrate Nigerians’ vibrant and burgeoning small businesses in the food sector.
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Over the last seven years, the event has hosted more than a million attendees, featured entrepreneurial masterclasses by international chefs and business experts and launched or propelled the business of hundreds of entrepreneurs in the food retail industry.
“Across Africa and beyond, every meal tells a story”, noted Segun Agbaje, the Chief Executive Officer of GTCO, “Every bite carries the weight of tradition, the warmth of family and a glimpse of the future. Through food we welcome others into our world, sharing not just a meal but a piece of ourselves. Today, that tradition lives on, passed down through generations”, said an enthusiastic Agbaje.
Excited Agbaje explained, “At the GTCO food and drink festival, we bring this tradition to life, celebrating not only food, but the people who make it and the cultures it represents, while providing a free, vibrant and commercially viable platform for small food businesses in Nigeria to grow and thrive. Here strangers become family, small businesses grow into household names, and every guest feels right at home”.
“Now in its 8th year, this consumer-focused event continues to reinforce our commitment to promoting enterprise and creating great experiences. We are delighted to welcome our customers, exhibitors, and food lovers from across the world”, added Agbaje.
Reinforcing what the CEO said, Chinonso Celestine of ‘Eves Organics,’ described the festival as amazing and a business propeller. “Our business has expanded beyond our imagination since participating in this festival over the past two years .”
“We were not getting orders for home deliveries, but customers call us for that now. I really appreciate this company for putting this through; I wish that other organizations could give back to society like they do”.
Eves Organics, based at Berger, the outskirts of Lagos, sell different kinds of organically based drinks like juices, smoothies, parfaits etc.
“I am a widow with children, the festival has made it possible for me to save money and train my children”, said an entrepreneur simply called ‘Mama’, whose roasted yams/potato/plantain/fish and tantalising stew has made her popular in the festival.
Attending to consumers in her stall with three of her teenage sons, she disclosed that she had participated in the festival more than four times and each time made sales that she would not have made in the tiny street corner where she usually sells in Victoria Island [V.I].
At the stall of Gourmet Twist that deals in classic and exotic breads, the crowd that gathered to make purchases was a testament that business was thriving at the GTCO Festival. “We really thank God and GT for this opportunity. If other organizations can emulate them, this country will be better,” said the excited female manager who refused to give out her name.
“This is not the first time we are participating. This festival has given us the needed visibility, and you see for yourself that we are recording huge sales”.
Sellers on the adjoining roads to the venue of the event were also not left out during the booming three days of the festival. With the increased human traffic, the sellers were all smiling to their banks, praying that the business would stretch to one week.
At the festival, apart from the buying and selling, and masterclasses and networking, there were sections and sessions for children and basic school students, ensuring fun for everyone.
Some of the visitors who spoke to journalists said it was an event they always looked forward to.
Ngozi Ibe said apart from catching up with old friends, she learnt how to cook new dishes like the ‘Jambalaya’ rice, in the master class anchored by the award-winning Chef Tamara Patterson.
In an interview with ChefTilly, who taught on how to use ‘African flavours for a healthier you’, in one of the Master classes, she said that food could actually be used to cure illnesses, as was in her own case. The Nutritionist said she encourages people to harness the nutrients in food, as people are actually what they eat.
In terms of the prices of goods at the festival, while some sellers were quite reasonable, others were not.
According to Ronke and two of her sisters, whom the reporter saw eating popcorn from an average-sized paper cup, she said she and her sisters bought each for N1,500 as against the price of N2,000 at the mall, while some traders were selling a little higher than what is obtained outside.