Anger over expensive price of vegetables drove me into organic farming –Ozioma Onwordi, Eden Whole Foods ex-banker boss.
By Enyeribe Ejiogu
Midstream into a meteoric rise at BankPHB, which later became Keystone Bank, Ozioma Onwordi, a graduate of Imo State University, Owerri, IMSU pulled out of the banking industry to develop her entrepreneurial skills that began manifesting in secondary school at Dorothy College.
Back then, as a day student who lives close to school, she would fry plantain and peppered meat, which she sold to classmates during evening prep. At IMSU, she sold clothes and earrings to female students and jewellery to women making their hair in salons.
Onwordi has moved up the entrepreneurship ladder as an agropreneur who produces crops, processes and packages into branded finished products and actively taking advantage of e-commerce platforms and channels to sell profitably and grow the business, trading as Eden Whole Foods. Below, she tells the story of how she plans to meet Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the WTO.
Before venturing into private enterprise to set up Eden Whole Foods, which companies did you work for and how long were you with the firms?
Today, Eden Group is engaged in several business activities. Before I began building Eden Whole Foods, I worked for BankPHB, which later became Keystone Bank. I rose to become a branch manager before I resigned, to pursue my vision. It is worthy to note that I started out in commercial banking, then went to retail banking. After awhile I went back to commercial banking before heading to corporate banking where I stayed there for some time before I was reassigned to branch banking, which is under commercial banking. It was from the branch that I resigned in 2020.
At what point did you decide to set up your business, and what prompted the choice of agriculture?
Actually, I decided to set up my business right after school. I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit right from when I was much younger. I have always told my children and team members that when I was in secondary school, I used to sell plantain chips. I would fry it and take it to my night class, to sell to my classmates with peppered meat. When I went to the university, I would buy clothes from the guys that came from Aba and sell them to the girls in their hostels. I would go to Aba, to buy jewelleries which I sold to the girls in the hostels and women in hairdressing salons. These things helped me to hone my business skills. After graduation, I went to Kano State for the national youth service. I would buy shirts from the Kofa Ruwan market and sell them to male corps members. I was just doing it to survive.
However, when I came to Lagos, to stay with my aunt at VGC (Victoria Gardens City), I went to Ajah market on a certain day and saw that vegetables were so, so expensive. Being a proper girl raised in the village setting, this was what we used to have at home in the village at very low cost. In any case, if anybody wanted to sell it, the price would not be more than N20. At that time in Ajah, ugu vegetable was selling at between N100 and N200, and it was not negotiable. It did not just make any sense. I felt that I could address the situation, and thereby bring the ‘village’ to Lagos. I came to the conclusion that if I was growing food crops, I would be able to match the prices to the best of my abilities in my VGC community. So, that was how the venture into agriculture was born, and of course the goal was to make money from agriculture. The venture as I said earlier came from a place of anger over the high price of vegetables.
The farm did not start fully until sometime in 2016 or 2017, when I actively started searching for land to grow food crops. I was still working in the bank at the time. My aunt who I was staying with had a factory in Ogun State that had shutdown and the acres of land were lying fallow. That was my first test-run of growing food crops. I had searched for land in the Epe area of Lagos, but the cost of land was very, very expensive. When I approached her, she agreed that I could farm there. I used to go to Ogun State every weekend to supervise what I was building and to work with my team, to prepare for what was coming. So, if you consider that I had two young children, it was important to feed them with healthy food. Through this, I became more aware of the nutritional value of food, and I began to see food as medicine. Our food is not just what you just swallow and digest, to nourish the body. Rather, growing food was an opportunity to feed my children with healthy options; feed them with food that had traceability, and food that I knew the source.
So, when did the farm take off?
I would say that we started in 2017 through 2018, we grew quite a number of things. I established a poultry farm. We were doing about 300 or more birds then. We planted bananas and plantain. Initially, we planted some plants on the parcel of land and was adding more as the days passed. Also, I planted pineapples, set up a snailery, cultivated vegetables, maize and beans in their seasons. In addition, I planted coconut on the farm. I grew all these although 2018 when I became pregnant with my twins. It was very hectic for me. At the time one of the twins was going to abort, my gynaecologist advised me to take a rest.
The period of the bedrest became a time to rethink the whole initiative, and decide what to do. I didn’t want to stop farming. So, I needed to re-structure and have a different approach. I had built a small clientele at the time. I started working with other farmers that grew things I didn’t grow. I would buy from them. Usually, I delivered weekly baskets to my clients. So, I reached out to the farmers and told them I didn’t want to shutdown my business. I told them they had to grow more things. This way, my landing costs would be cheaper. I got them to tell me the other crops they were growing, which I added to my list of produce and promoted on my platform. By the way, I was engaged in organic farming. Our chickens were not vaccinated. They were mostly allowed to grow as free range chicken on the wide expanse of land. They were allowed to eat worms from the earth. So, I have found and these farmers and they replaced all the things I was growing. Currently, I do not have a active farm. But I intend to start again and I am acquiring land in Ibadan, Oyo State for that purpose, and we will build a factory for processing subsidiary. For the present, we have a network of farmers who are growing the crops we need, and doing so according to our specification. We prioritise and actively promote organic foods that are ethically grown and processed. We provide them with seeds and all other resources they need.
Under this off-taker arrangement, it greatly helps them to reduce post-harvest losses and creates a stable market for them. I basically do the marketing and distribution in Lagos. We are currently located in Surulere. We serve hotels, schools and restaurants. We also sell to other private end-users and families who are on our database.
What kind of farm is it? What kind of crops do you grow or animals do you rear?
I encourage my farmers to practise integrated organic farming which covers every aspect of food agriculture. For instance, they could use the fishwater waste as fertiliser for the crops. So, I work with farmers who do not grow crops with fertilisers. We just use natural, bio-friendly manure or natural fertiliser. I greatly encourage healthy organic farming. We offer a wide range of food crops and foodstuff: goat meat, guinea fowl and quail (both the egg and meat), chickens, turkey and different types of vegetables. Basically, we have farmers for everything a customer may want when it concerns food.
We source produce all the way from Jos (Plateau State), Kebbi and Kaduna, and transport to our facilities in Lagos. We clean, package and distribute to our customers. Jos is a good place with a friendly climate and it is just right to grow broccoli, cauliflower, strawberry and Lebanese cucumber. So, we take a lot of agro-produce from the North and work with other farmers from the Southwest. We have bell pepper, ugu and other vegetables. Some we process into packaged food products.
Are you engaged in any form of processing, either for local consumption or export?
Yes, process agro-produce into finished and packaged products. Five of our products have received NAFDAC approvals and certification, and are being sold in stores in Nigeria. We have started establishing distribution arrangements with partners across the country and outside Nigeria, in different parts of the world.
What has been your experience exporting to customers overseas, and particularly in securing certifications or approvals from regulatory agencies.
Exporting has been a great experience. Our products are available on Amazon, eBay, and are delivered to customers in Atlanta (Georgia), Florida, Texas, Michigan, New Jersey, all in the United States.
Of course, you gain more when you earn in dollars from exporting. We have a presence in the United Kingdom and United States, and are building a customer base. In the United States, we have secured certification from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). We have an arrangement with Xtra Kilos in the US. Currently, we export directly to end-users. We do the same for the UK. But I have been reading up about the DFID (Department of Foreign and International Development) certification process, to learn how to shelf in retail chains. We are moving ahead to get all the certifications and approvals we need. We are very determined to make a good showing in the US market. For this reason, we are leveraging the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to build a good market share.
How did you cope during the COVID-19 lockdown? How were you able to keep your customers satisfied all through the unfortunate period?
I would say that COVID-19 was our launch pad year. I resigned before the lockdown and it was a very good year for us because food is very essential. We had started our processes in the 18 months before COVID-19. We were in operation in May 2020 and had perfected the process of home delivery, which was what most food businesses and pharmacies relied on to stay in business during the lockdown. It was a good year for us. We already our processes, structure, and team members in place. And they knew what to do. The only thing that we suffered was stress and exhaustion. We were overwhelmed with orders because so many people could not move around l. We even went beyond supplying the food produce that had been harvested or processed in our facilities. People asked us for basic things like toiletries, water, beverages, etc. For this reason, we started a shopping service, but we do not do that anymore. But at that time, we did it and shopped for people from stores around us and they paid us commission on the things that we helped them sell because it required a team member to do the shopping for them. That was how we were able to meet our customers’ demands at the time. What was key for me was quality customer service. I came from the background of a bank that was very, very exhaustive about customer service, very demanding and professional. So, I had to break customer- centric. I have been able to communicate that in an excellent way to my team members. During the lockdown, we had a permit to move around. This allowed us to go to the farms to harvest produce and supply to customers. When we get to roadblocks, we show them our permit. And beyond the permit, our van had foodstuff which we sometimes gave to the people at the roadblocks – that was part of how they survived. That was also how scaled through during COVID-19.
Generally speaking, what major have you faced in trying to manage and grow the business?
The major challenges I have faced in growing the business revolve around human capital. And sometimes funding. In terms of human capital, you have situations where you invest so much time, effort and funds in training team members and when they feel that they have gained valuable experience, they leave and you start all over again to train the newly hired staff, to teach them the basics. The staff turnover has not stopped me from investing effort, time and funds to train my team members. Our service quality is only as good as the knowledge level and positive attitude of our team members because I came from an industry where I was trained to make my work effective. We train and retrain our team members. However, we have adopted the train-the-trainer approach. What this means is that if I pay for an expensive training programme for two or three team leads, they are required to train the other members, so that we are all on the same page and able to communicate to other direct and indirect stakeholders because they are components of our business and very important for us to deliver on our promise to our customers.
Due to funding gaps, sometimes we had to overlook some big projects because I did not have the capacity to deliver. Instead of messing it up, I just stay away from such big projects. It has been one day at a time. Family members and friends have been very supportive. If I have a local purchase order (LPO) and I need to pay ahead to secure some produce or materials, I have gone to friends and family. In this year, 2024, Sterling Bank funded us and gave us working capital to finance our cooling truck which has a capacity of 2.5 tons. Sterling Bank is truly an exceptional supportive bank, especially for the agriculture sector. Our loan is single digit and it is an impact fund. This means that it is easy to handle and to manage. However, we have an organised, effective and functional structure that was why we were able to access the funds.
What is the structure of your distribution chain? How can a person become a distributor, retailer, supplier in a particular area?
Our distribution structure and system is very simple – if you want to become a distributor we have an MOU (memorandum of understanding) that you have to sign to become our brand ambassador. You get products based on the volume you pay for. You also get branding materials such as tee-shirts; we partially brand your store if you have a physical place, we encourage you to have social media footprints, so that we can list you on our website and put you on social media platforms to enable you to do the things you need to do. You sign on to be our representative in every part of Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world. It is very direct and we can be contacted on Instagram (@edenwholefoods.ng) and there is a number to call, to send a direct message. Somebody is always there to answer.
Would you allow enterprising unemployed graduates to go out to seek sales orders and act as order consolidators for your company?
We do have such a plan at the moment but we have had to ask people in the past to sign on and earn commissions. So, we look at students and even in schools who act as mini-representatives. We do not basically ship products to them. What they are required to do is to sign the MOU. I like everything to be done very clearly and seamlessly – we must document everything on paper. If you are a student, you can put our products in your WhatsApp status and other social media handles. If you do get orders, you send the contact details and earn a 10% commission on every single order that the customer makes. We will create an account for you and designate a customer sales representative who will help you fulfill that order. We deliver to the customers, they pay and you earn the commission straight up, no stories told.
What this means is that you can be a student, earn money and be anything you want to be without the stress of managing supplies. We do all of that for you. All you have to do is follow up with the customers and get their feedback and share with us. The customers do not need to have our contacts – instead you post your contacts for them to reach you. Whatever order they place on our platform, we share the receipt with you, they pay into the company’s account, and you send the order to us. We do our due diligence, verification and then process the guarantor’s form (so we don’t have cases of side-selling or unfulfilled orders). That is why we have to do verification and due diligence. You have to have a guarantor and then sign an agreement.
IGWEBUIKE 2024, The Southeast Colloquium will be held at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka on October 10, 2024. It will be a gathering of Igbo Intelligentsia. Can such event fit into your marketing plan or do you just feature in trade exhibitions?
Yes, we could look at coming into Awka. My younger brother who studied at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, and now works with me can come in and stand in for us if we are sure that the foot traffic is encouraging. We travel across Nigeria to find out new markets and how they impact our business. We have attended exhibitions at Ibadan (Oyo State) and feature regularly in similar events in Lagos at pop-up sessions in the open markets where we attend. We have gone to Abuja and Kano. We are looking to go to the Southeast. It is something we can look into, check it out and get more information. If it is something that can fit into our marketing plan, I guess we can positively consider it and go for trade exhibitions.
Have you ever participated in exhibitions overseas? What was the experience like?
We have not participated in any international exhibition. However, I will be at the GRF in Rwanda in November 2024. I am a good fellow of the African Organisation of Chain Maker. We have been encouraged to bring our products and pitch to possible investors.
What is your unique selling point?
Our unique selling point is giving our customers an excellent experience. We are big on customer satisfaction and seek feedback from them. We have an open communication channel. We are also big on maintaining our quality at premium levels. When you buy Eden Whole Foods products, you always get value for your money. You can rest assured that it has been produced with so much love in a clean environment. And it is ethically sourced. They are absolutely healthy products that are fit for consumption by every member of the family, from age-six-months and above.
