Chef returned to African roots to build business success
A CAFÉ chef inspired to return her cooking to her African roots by customers is now seeing her exotic foods business boom from a small Gwynedd village.
Margaret Ogunbanwo opened a café at the former Red Lion pub in Penygroes – serving up standard café fayre.
But when people got to learn more about her African heritage they wanted to taste more authentic dishes.
This saw her add them to her menu and start to hold African cuisine evenings at the site.
She said: “They were so popular that it got to the stage where I could make more in an evening than I would for a week in the café.”
She decided to focus on this side of the business in 2016 and close the café and use the kitchen as a production hub for her own sauces and spices under the brand Maggie’s Exotic Foods.
She sells through retailers, food events or directly online.
Margaret, 54, who studied catering at college in Birmingham, said: “When we started we also did the African evenings but now I often don’t have the time because we are so busy.
“The demand has come from everywhere, first in Wales but now England as well with our next target to get into London, we have even had an enquiry from the US after someone tried our sauces here.”
The sheer level of demand has seen her step up the operation.
She said: “Over the last year sales have doubled, I have relied on family to support me but it has come to a point where they are getting tired.
“I am due to take on someone shortly and by this time next year I would like three or four people if things keep going the way they are now.
“I am very happy with the way tings are going and that people want to buy my authentic sauces.
“They continue to grow and meld with an additional Welsh touch added to the mix.”
Margaret, who has been supported by Cywain, now hopes that she could expand in the future to a purpose-built production unit in the area.