How we’re creating jobs by processing Ukwa – Eriobu

Chidinma Eriobu is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Phronesis Foods Limited, a local food processing and packaging company in Lagos. The runner up of the recent Next Titan season 7, a business reality TV show speaks on how she is creating jobs by processing Ukwa (African Breadfruit)

From Mokwunye Chioma Esther, Lagos

What was your experience on the TV show?

One of the amazing things was that we didn’t have the opportunity to leave the academy to carry out our tasks like in previous seasons. This means for every single task including having to conceive a business, launch it, sell it, generate revenues was done within the academy. I had the opportunity to look into my life as an entrepreneur and check the network I have built over time. We also have to defend our business before the boardroom judges. I was up for eviction more than five times and every single time I had to come up with creative ways as to why I should remain in the academy.

Can you tell us about your business?

My business is a food processing and packaging company; we are basically dealing with a particular food product called “Ukwa”. It is a local food found in Eastern Nigeria, the English name is bread fruit.

My mother has packaged “Ukwa” for more than thirty years and when I got into the business, the initial plan was just to store it because it wasn’t readily available. As we grew the business, we began to create new food product lines from that one material and currently we have about five new food product lines from this single raw material.

Now, the most amazing thing in my business is beyond the fact that we are dealing with local food or creating new food product lines, it’s the fact that we have created jobs for both graduates and unskilled women in the rural community. We also initiated a back-to-school campaign for their children because we discovered most of them can’t send their children to school. 

What are the challenges you faced starting the business?

First of all is that we do not have flexible government policies. It could be government licenses especially for someone like me who is in the food manufacturing industry that will require us to get into certain markets, local or international markets.

Another key challenge which is basically what every entrepreneur should be facing is funding. I am running my business with a N100,000 grant that we got in 2018 from an NGO in Nigeria. It was until recently that we got a N18 million grant from NNPC, now that is just a tip of the iceberg. We are in the manufacturing industry, if we are to play successfully in providing food, in contributing to food storage, healthy food and sustainably we need a lot of funding.

What is your advice to young entrepreneurs?

Stay consistent. When I started “ukwa” business, it seemed very abnormal. A lot of people questioned why I was packaging it. They said it’s very local; they belittled it right but see where we are now. I remember when I came out of The Next Titan house, somebody said if I was packaging biscuits maybe I would have won, but it’s not about what everybody could easily do, it’s about what everybody could not easily do; that one that nobody would touch that is what makes you an entrepreneur.

I like playing around with a particular quote “God gave you your dream, He didn’t call a press conference, He called you and He gave it to you. So, you have to continue going back to the drawing board anytime you hit a block or you hit a wall”. That’s how we have continued to stay in business.