Interview with Eka Obaigbena
FOUNDER, TOASTIES
Lives in: Lagos, Nigeria
Eka Obaigbena observed a niche in Nigeria’s restaurant marketplace for fast-casual chains – similar to Chipotle, Shake Shack, and Pret a Manger – she had grown accustomed to whereas dwelling overseas. To fill it, she launched Toasties, which presents sandwiches, salads and different gadgets that mix native components with worldwide flavour profiles. How we made it in Africa editor-in-chief Jaco Maritz spoke to her about leaving Michelin-starred kitchens abroad to construct the enterprise in Lagos.
Subjects mentioned throughout the interview embrace:
The variations between working a restaurant in Nigeria and the West
Moving into the highlight as an introverted founder
Navigating loneliness within the early days
How Lagos’ eating tradition has developed
What she would do otherwise if beginning the enterprise once more
Watch the total interview beneath: (solely out there on www.howwemadeitinafrica.com)
Nigerian entrepreneur Eka Obaigbena educated on the French Culinary Institute in New York, earlier than working in fine-dining and Michelin-starred eating places within the US and Europe.
Throughout visits house, she observed an absence of the fast-casual eating chains – similar to Chipotle, Shake Shack, and Pret a Manger – that she had grown accustomed to abroad.
“I simply needed to see a change and enchancment within the trade, particularly as a result of it’s an trade that I’m captivated with,” she says.
Obaigbena relocated again to Nigeria in 2015, the place she refined her enterprise concept earlier than formally launching Toasties the next yr. The fast-casual idea centres on connoisseur sandwiches and salads made with African flavours.
Studying on the job
Toasties launched from an 8m² area behind a boutique mall in Lagos’ Ikoyi neighbourhood. Functioning primarily as a stationary meals truck, the positioning consisted of a rear kitchen and an open serving window, with no seating. Obaigbena began the operation with simply two workers members.
“There was a number of studying on the job,” Obaigbena says. At first, she took on a number of roles. “I grew to become the procurement officer, the accountant, the driving force, […] the cleaner, the prepare dinner, the cashier – it’s important to do all of it, it’s important to put on many hats.”
Preliminary gross sales have been sluggish. For the primary few days, the owner was Toasties’ solely buyer, earlier than phrase of mouth steadily introduced in additional foot visitors.
These early days have been very lonely. “I didn’t have any companions or […] anybody to bounce concepts off,” Obaigbena says.
“There have been occasions after I puzzled whether or not I made the appropriate alternative,” she recollects. It was particularly troublesome to face a difficult financial system alone. Shortly after she began the enterprise, Nigeria went via a interval of financial challenges, and a sliding native forex made issues like components rather more costly.
Toasties presents sandwiches, salads and different gadgets that mix native components with worldwide flavour profiles.
Scaling the enterprise
Toasties finally expanded past its unique web site. A significant milestone was securing a location on the home terminal of Lagos’ airport, which Obaigbena says had all the time been a purpose.
By 2023, the chain had grown to 5 retailers. Nonetheless, some closures – together with one web site that needed to make means for a authorities freeway challenge – decreased the corporate’s footprint to 3 places.
Backed by a 2025 funding from non-public fairness agency Aruwa Capital Administration, Obaigbena plans to renew enlargement in 2026. The enterprise is at the moment making ready to open a brand new web site on the airport’s worldwide terminal.
Deliveries have additionally turn out to be a major income stream. At first, Obaigbena resisted providing supply as a result of she needed clients to expertise the meals recent off the grill. Immediately, supply orders account for about 45% of the enterprise.
Deliveries have turn out to be a sizeable a part of Toasties’ enterprise.
‘Individuals need to hear a narrative’
A self-described introvert, Obaigbena initially shied away from being the general public face of Toasties, however in a while realised the significance of placing herself on the market to attach with customers.
“Individuals need to hear a narrative. They need to perceive who they’re supporting, who they’re placing their … hard-earned revenue behind,” she explains. “No person’s actually going to inform the story the best way that I’m going to inform the story.”
In the course of the late 2010s, the corporate relied closely on Instagram promoting to drive development. Whereas social media advertising stays efficient for the enterprise right now, Obaigbena notes that advert prices have risen considerably since these early campaigns.
The corporate solely just lately employed a advertising staff; earlier than that, Obaigbena dealt with all of it herself. “I used to be the one doing the advertising, answering all of the social media messages and all of that on behalf of the corporate,” she says.
With devoted advertising workers now in place, Toasties has been in a position to perceive its clients higher. “We carried out a couple of surveys, which helped us perceive who we’re concentrating on as a substitute of casting your internet large,” Obaigbena explains.
A brand new enterprise throughout the pandemic
Toasties’ walk-in enterprise slowed considerably throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, although deliveries continued. Discovering herself with extra time on her fingers, Obaigbena launched a second enterprise known as Board. The enterprise provides charcuterie-style grazing boards and bins for occasions starting from non-public birthdays and weddings to company features.
Navigating Nigeria’s working surroundings
Obaigbena realised that the on a regular basis realities of working a Western fast-casual model don’t translate on to Nigeria.
The native meals service trade remains to be growing, which means there’s a smaller pool of staff with prior restaurant expertise. “Within the US … let’s say I need to begin a espresso store, there are such a lot of people who find themselves already educated baristas – I don’t need to undergo the method of coaching from scratch,” she explains.
Employees at a Toasties outlet.
This want for coaching typically extends to sanitation, as many Nigerians don’t have piped water of their houses. “So the idea of washing your fingers recurrently after making ready a meal […] is just not one thing that comes naturally,” she says. “So it’s important to undergo the method of regularly making an attempt to coach and prepare. However you would possibly take one thing like that with no consideration if you rent a chef within the US.”
One other drawback Western restaurateurs sometimes don’t need to cope with is Nigeria’s frequent electrical energy outages. Disruption in energy provide causes kitchen home equipment to put on down sooner, and an absence of electrical energy impacts the surroundings she desires to create in her outlets. Backup turbines and photo voltaic panels are options, however they add to total prices.
“So there’s simply totally different nuances that aren’t relevant in different components of the world that will likely be particularly relevant right here,” Obaigbena says. “That’s why you possibly can’t take one thing that’s performed abroad after which simply apply it and anticipate that it’s going to work the identical means. It’s only a utterly totally different surroundings with totally different beasts that we now have to deal with daily.”
