Mary Oduneye is the founder of African Delicious Limited, one of the favourite food hubs in the United Kingdom for food enthusiasts searching for native Nigerian cuisines. In an interview with FinIntell, Mrs Oduneye shares how her passion for cooking and the enterprising skills of her family have kept the business running one year after it opened an outlet in Failsworth, Manchester.
Granting the interview while doing what she loves doing best –cooking, Mrs Oduneye gave her 17 years old daughter who is also a staff of the organisation the permission to speak on her behalf and that of the company.
Please introduce yourself and tell us about African Delicious?
My name is Teni Oduneye. I am one of the staff at African Delicious. We are a Nigerian restaurant and catering service that provides Nigerians with the ability to have authentic native dishes at any event. We are affordable and government rated.
The restaurant opened last year December and it’s been a good business experience one year after. People have been coming to experience African Delicious from different areas. We recently had people from Liverpool coming for a taste of African Delicious meals.
We’ve also been able to partner with Just Eat, an online food order and delivery platform. The partnership has been great.
Amongst so many business options, why food business?
I think one of the main reasons why my mum started a food business is because she just loves to cook. She had a catering company while in Nigeria with services for private and public events. So she just decided to continue her passion for cooking and expand the business when she moved to the UK.
Back in Nigeria, the company’s name was Top Mary Catering Service. It has now transformed to African Delicious Limited in the UK. We are starting with this outlet first in Failsworth, Manchester and hope to expand to other places as the business grows.
Beyond passion, did your mum learn cooking formally?
Yes, she learnt cooking. She went to some catering schools in Nigeria to help refine her passion for cooking. When it comes to business, passion is not just enough. Knowledge must be added.
It seems yours is a family of entrepreneurs?
Yes, the entrepreneurial spirit runs in the family. We are all involved in the business. It’s a family business. My Dad, Temitope Oduneye, and my mum are at the forefront leading us right. They are ministers of the gospel as well. My siblings and I are fully involved in the business. It has always been like that. We grew up with mum cooking and rendering services.
We also have a care company for social work activities. It is interesting to note that despite mum’s love for cooking, she has experience in the care sector too. She had worked in the hospital caring for the vulnerable.
What challenges do you face in this business and how are you addressing them?
The one we face is a good one because it has to do with high demands of our services. Despite the fact that we’re just a year in business with few staff base, some customers want more services. So we address such by earnestly meeting their demands to avoid delays.
We host events at our restaurant too, and during those periods we work extra hard to ensure all our customers are satisfied. I cook too during such event. All hands are always on deck when we host events or when mum goes for outdoor catering services.
We’re currently working on getting more staff and making more varieties of food available.
Role Modeling is important in business. Is there a company you’ll like to pattern after in your line of business?
When it comes to African restaurants, I think ‘mumsy’ would like to pattern after the popular Enish restaurant in London. They just opened in Manchester but have different restaurants within the UK. The company is purposeful in business just like we are too. African Delicious is very intentional about delivering quality and affordable catering services to our customers.
What marketing strategies are you engaging as a young brain in family business?
We are on all social media platforms…always buzzing on instagram. We have also engaged some customers who are influencers in promoting our services. In this day and age, your business must be seen. So we have influencers always posting about us and marketing our services.
I and my siblings play more roles in online marketing for the company too.
On a personal note, would you like to continue with food business when you’re all set?
I would rather prefer to go into management of business …although, I may still cook in small scales but not in large ones that I am currently used to (General laughter).
