Adugan Jollof is a very popular catering outfit on social media with lots of followers and the brain behind this successful business is Omokunga Folukemi. She started Adugan Jollof three years ago and the business is getting very popular as the day goes bye. They provide catering service, quick meals within a short notice at very affordable prices for 15-1000 guests. And despite being prepared on the gas, it has the firewood taste, which is their signature taste. Besides being a successful caterer, she also runs a successful Aso-Oke business. Also as a way of giving back to society, she runs a CSR project, where she feeds 50-100 children on the street of Lagos monthly. She also got a nomination for Best Food Vendor for Entrepreneur African Awards.
This beauty and a hard working lady is from Ondo State, a graduate of English and from the family of 6 and she happens to be the last child of the family. She also has a certificate in entrepreneurship management from the Enterprise Development Centre (Pan African University). She is also blessed with a 3 years old daughter.
In this interview with City People’s Senior Showbiz Reporter, BIODUN ALAO, she talked on how she started the business, the challenges, and how she has influenced her environment positively through her business.
How long have you been running your business?
My name is Folukemi Omokunga, I run Adugan Jollof and Foods. I run a catering service that provides quick meal service on short notice, we do 15 to 1,000 guests. We cater for events, parties, anniversaries, and any other kind of events. I have a certificate in entrepreneurship management from Enterprises Development Centre (Pan African University). As a CEO with so much motivation to lead and grow business, I have been able to run an Aso-Oke business outfit successfully for 4 years, before delving into catering business, which is 3 years old now, and I have been able to run the two successfully as they are patronised by very notable clients in the society.
What sorts of caring services do you render?
We have lots of products and services, and they include quick meals for about 15 to 1,000 guests on short notice our platter menu includes “Ireti” Jollof Rice, feeds 10 guests. Main meals chicken 10pcs, turkey 10 pcs, fish pcs, goat meat 10pcs, ram 10pcs.
We also have our prices listed for other menus (15-1,000) guests on our Instagram page. Food for 50 guests, 100 guests, 1,000 guests, to avoid an itch of endless bookings prior to how the catering industry works. Our orders can be placed both online and offline.
What would you say stands you out from other catering outfits?
Everything about Adugan Jollof stands us out our unique selling point is our signature firewood jollof rice taste despite the fact that we use gas cookers. Our quick service and promptness in handling even bigger meals, out delivery at doorsteps all these make us different and unique.
Lots of people don’t feel comfortable ordering food for fear of safety. So how safe is it ordering in your food, especially with this era of infection and diseases all over?
Our focus is basically on food safety, recycling, corporate social responsibility and also our commitment to hygiene in delivering a healthy and tasty meal to our customers is total.
Our dedication to details applies to every aspect of our business and our main focus is hygiene and professional service to clients within any budget.
How did you come about the name “Adugan” Jollof for your business?
Our name Adugan Jollof was inspired by a popular Yoruba store called Adogan because of the smokey taste it gives to meals. If you check our Instagram page, you will discover that we don’t showcase the food, but the process, the food go through
We have well trained Ibile caterers, so the paste is always 100% taste party Jollof Rice.
In the last 3 years of operating this business, who are the big names you have rendered your services to?
Our core competence in quote includes the ability to adapt and modify 100 percent product offering to any event whatever the size, theme, intimacy (like anniversaries) to grand-scale/community events. Our customers now are corporate organisations like banks. We now service 5 banks monthly. In December 2018, we catered for the 50th Edition of Asiju Oba Molade Okoya Thomas hosted by his children where we catered for over 1000 guests at the Lagos State Commission, Surulere, Lagos. We have also covered other grand-scale events such as burials, weddings, parties etc.
What is your pet project all about?
Besides the fact that Adugan Jollof is creating jobs within its community with a start-up of 3 caterers and 5 sub-contracted drivers for delivery. Other partnerships with dispatch companies, we are raising our local catering industry standard. Our CSR is a project where we feed 50 to 100 children on the street of Lagos monthly we intend to structure more effectively our industrial kitchen where a minimum of 15 caterers can work and cover a minimum of 500 events weekly.
Who would you say are your target customers?
Our target customers are those who want firewood taste jollof rice, for those who want their foods in bowls mainly for strangers in the house. For those who want the convenience of not having to cook when having an event for customers who leave the house early and return home late. We have you covered anytime. And also we are just not the regular food vendors. I am not a caterer, but rather an entrepreneur, one of the qualities of a good entrepreneur is making sure the feedback is always good. It is not all about profit, but also passion to make people happy and event is easy that is our main objective and we are also registered.
How often do you get orders?
We get orders every now and then like, for the last Christmas, we catered for over 100 families, just for Christmas and we are always busy on every normal day because our customers always come back and we always get referrals. Now, nobody is doing my kind of business on Instagram because it is very tasking, we wake up as early as 4 am to 5 am to start cooking.
Can you take us through your background?
I am from Ondo State, that was why pounded yam as part of our business has to come to play. We want people to taste our pounded yam and efo riro. I am a graduate of English. I have always had a passion for cooking good food. I am from a family of 6. And I am the baby of the house, that is all basically.
How do you relax?
It’s been very hectic, but now I have a manager and caterers. I delegate tasks to them. So, if I need to relax, I do expensive restaurants, go out and have a new taste of food, or take a day or two off to have a good nap.
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