First Bank reaffirms commitment to developing agro-economy, promotes SME’s in food business
FOOD FAIRS AND FUN may not readily come to mind when First Bank Nigeria Plc is mentioned, but for the fourth straight year, the bank has succeeded in reinforcing its commitment to supporting Nigeria’s agricultural value chain and promoting the vast diversity of Nigeria’s cuisine through its annual fiesta of flavours.
Olisa Adibua, host of televised food show Bukas and Joints, in an interview with business a.m described the 2018 edition of the event as a veritable platform for showcasing Nigeria’s rich culture “it’s a thing of pride and joy to see how our food has travelled around the world. What I have noticed is that it gets bigger each year and the eclectic nature of the different vendors gives participants a sample of our world in culinary terms.”
Another advantage of such exposure through the fiesta is the improvement in the presentation of our local dishes, the host of the weekly series featured in America, UK and Africa said. He observed that the fiesta which fosters healthy competition among the diverse food vendors and agricultural product retailers and wholesalers ensures that Nigerian finger foods, main dishes and side dishes are now well presented. “This makes people become more bold or daring in experimenting with Nigerian.”
From production to consumption, creating opportunities for SMEs in the food sector and promoting economy diversification by partnering with the Eventful team year after year to host ‘Fiesta of Flavours’ using it as an opportunity to connect with all our customers, irrespective of their socioeconomic status and age, is the goal for hosting the event annually, Folake AniMumuney, the group head, marketing & corporate communications, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, said.
Yewande Zacheus, CEO of Eventful and convener of the event also stated that the food fairs are held to provide a platform for entrepreneurs in the food and Agric space, especially the emerging ones, who don’t have stores and still do online retail.
“It gives them an opportunity to come face to face with their target market and those who are interested in their product, it also gives us, (event planners) an opportunity to showcase our expertise in organising large events like this.”
Speaking on the economic importance of the fiesta, Zacheus said “the economic part is to empower entrepreneurs. People new in the business are able to scale up their business while people already entrenched and have a growing business are able to upscale. People are also able to see the extent and the variety of the agricultural value chain.”
Discussions with some of the participants and food vendors revealed the goals of the event were achieved. A pastry vendor who preferred to be referred to as Omolola said the event has brought about much-needed visibility.
“It has helped in creating more awareness for my brand, meeting new people who have never heard of our products and creating an opportunity to deliver quality first hand to future clients.”
She said the exposure is particularly helpful in boosting turnover as the cost of production is being made high with the unavailability or unreliable supply of basic infrastructures such as water, power, and transportation.