Innovating the recipe box market with a taste of Nigeria: Meet Konero
A rich heritage of traditional African cuisine meets with a passion for technology, innovation and adapting to modern food trends in the food brand, Konero. We caught up with food entrepreneur and founder, Gideon Effiong to hear how his business journey has taken him from Nigeria to Leeds, via Kent. We also hear how his finesse on the football pitch inspired his brand refresh.
Gideon Effiong is the founder of Konero Group Ltd, a pioneering Nigerian manufacturer specialising in fruit and vegetable-based ready-meals, recipe box meal kits, and plant-based snacks. Gideon joined Growing Kent & Medway’s Food Accelerator programme in Spring 2024 and was mentored by agrifood engineering specialist, Alan Marshall.
About Konero
With its origins in the southern Nigerian metropole of Port Harcourt, Konero offers its customers the taste of Africa through its signature salads, soups, stews and sauces. Founder Gideon Effiong came to the UK in 2021 with the idea of creating a recipe-box brand with Nigerian and Afro-Caribbean menus.
Gideon’s experience in the food sector started at a young age, helping his mum run her food business at home in Port Harcourt. Gideon studied Food Science and Technology at University and reflected, “I knew from the first day of the course that I wanted to run my own food business.”
After graduation, he started as Assistant Quality Assurance Manager and went on to work as HSEQ Manager for other catering businesses, before starting his own catering business ‘FoodCrest Catering’. This led to launching his first restaurant, Chow Express and Chow Africana, before his move to the UK three years later to start his recipe box venture.
Konero was not the original brand name. Initially registered as Recipebox Agri-food UK Limited, when his first restaurant launched, Gideon decided on a change of branding. He says, “I decided to adopt the brand name – Konero - a name I had acquired among my friends on the football pitch based on my prestige, finesse and mastery of the skills on the pitch: the same philosophy that drives our mission in the kitchen – promoting the mastery and finesse of Nigerian and Afro-Caribbean menus.”
Gideon is continuing to build his food brand. The bricks and mortar Konero restaurant is currently relocating to Leeds. Konero meal kits will provide customers with the ingredients and instructions to recreate authentic African dishes at home. And Konero YellowBoxes will offer convenient ready-to-eat meals through retail and grocery stores.
A passion for innovation in the food sector inspired Gideon to make the move from catering to the development of his ready meals and at-home recipe kits. He explains, “I have been very passionate about innovations in food services and new product development that align with advancements in technology, as well as nutritional trends.
“Recipe boxes and subscription service models are the new era of grocery shopping and dining; with today’s workforce preferring to do more online shopping, work from home and get better nutrition without having to plan their meals or groceries. They also want to go out and have a great experience in a serene ambience, making dining more of an experience than the food. These are the drivers that informed the Konero brand.”
Bringing Nigerian flavours to the UK
Having successfully run businesses in Nigeria, Gideon wanted to ensure he understood the commercial climate in the UK to give his new enterprise the best chance of success.
His research into the University of Greenwich and Natural Resources Institute led him to discover Growing Kent & Medway, which Gideon hoped would provide the UK regulatory and statutory knowledge he needed for his food business.
Gideon applied for a place on our Food Accelerator programme in February 2024, looking for a range of business support. “Among the operational, legal, and commercial knowledge, networking and support, I was hoping for a start-up funding support from the grants and other financial services support,” he said.
Navigating the finances and supply chain logistics to be stocked in major supermarkets in the UK was another motivation for joining the Growing Kent & Medway programme. Gideon adds, “I was hoping to leverage on the anticipated support to launch the Recipebox brand and to gain access to the major retail chains for the supply of our ready-meal brand – YellowBox. I needed support with packaging, SALSA pre-qualification and access to becoming a supplier with high-street retail and major retail brands.”
Because of the range of technical research support offered through the Medway Food Innovation Centre, local funding opportunities and network of businesses in the region, Gideon initially decided to base his business in the Kent and Medway region.
Mentoring
The Food Accelerator programme provided Gideon with four months of tailored support. With workshops on funding, brand strategy, packaging and food safety, as well as technical food support from the cutting-edge food laboratories at the Medway Food Innovation Centre.
Gideon was also accepted on our mentoring programme, and was guided by agri-food engineering specialist, Alan Marshall.
Gideon’s mentor was inspired by his knowledge, passion and resolve to grow a successful food business. Alan said, “As his mentor, we first met up for a focused meeting in Tenterden and I was impressed by his product knowledge, professionalism, and utter determination; all essential ‘ingredients’ for a successful business. Being a qualified kitchen inspector gave him a second income stream whilst setting up his catering business.
“Having worked in the Nigerian food sector I was able to empathise with his situation and had some knowledge of authentic Nigerian cuisine. Working together with Valerie Pondaven, the Food Accelerator manager, I arranged a place for him at the two-day FANsI NRI conference held at Greenwich University. We used the interval and post-conference time to discuss possible relocation areas, types of buildings, ingredient sources and key-core customer/population centres for his cooked products. Gideon is now in the process of setting up his first kitchen and I’m looking forward to sampling the products. A Growing Kent Medway success story!”
Overcoming hurdles
One of the key challenges facing most entrepreneurs growing a business is managing cash flow and finding funding for growth. A problem also faced by Konero. Sourcing and retaining the right talent to help run his business also proved difficult, however, Gideon has adapted his strategy to cope with these issues.
“Two major challenges I have faced first-hand since I launched the restaurant in November 2023 was talent and financial shortages. Due to the uniqueness of our menu, I had planned on accessing talent among the African immigrants locally and abroad. Not able to find the right talent for the African/Nigerian menu locally affected the business quite significantly and affected the pace of the business. Also, we couldn’t keep up with bills due to the delayed activities and the ripple effect of that is still being heavily felt across the business.
“Lessons learned with this challenge made me reconsider my strategy – and changed the operational model from a talent-dependent operation to a process-based operation. Activities that depend on individual talents have now been redesigned into process steps that can be followed by any staff with a robust onboarding and training system. That now leaves us with the resources aspect of the business. Capital remains the life-blood of any business and that’s where we still struggle.”
The value of networks
Gideon has had to be flexible to continue to drive his business forward. Rebranding, refocusing his strategy and ultimately deciding to open his kitchen operations in Leeds, rather than Swanley in Kent as planned due to family commitments.
Has the support from Growing Kent & Medway helped his business? Gideon agrees that it has, stating “The experience was quite an educating one; I realised – as expected – that there were quite a lot of personal assumptions about my products and the business which turned out to be wrong, and which were corrected too.
“The exposure and wide travel helped me see the country and understand the business landscape from the networking; other businesses and their products and services provided really deep insights.
“The mentors were quite experienced and hands-on. They brought their years of industry experience which helped me put all my plans into perspective.”
Gideon, pictured second from left, with other entrepreneurs from our Food Accelerator programme.
The future
So what is next for the Konero Group? Gideon continues to seek funding to realise his ambitious plans. He concurrently runs a catering and cleaning service to enable him to invest in his vision for his pioneering brand.
His flagship products will include the Konero restaurant, Konero recipebox and Konero yellowbox. The latter ready meals will feature African salads, bakery and sauce products. Gideon is committed to culinary excellence that showcases the rich and diverse heritage of African cuisine, adding, “Our fruit and vegetable-based offerings celebrate the natural goodness of local produce, bringing a taste of Africa to households in the Kent and Medway regions, and the rest of the UK.’
With the opening commercial kitchen, we expect to see the Konero brand in groceries and supermarkets around the UK soon.
For further information about Konero, visit their website, which is still being developed.
If you would like help to grow and scale your food and drink enterprise, we offer a range of services to support you. Our Food Accelerator programme gives you free technical support to develop your product, as well as business guidance. Our team of industry-specialist mentors are on hand to provide you with up to 12 hours of free support.
Konero
Konero Restaurant
Experience the warmth of Konero Restaurant, where traditional recipes come to life. Immersing diners in the vibrant ambience, savouring the best of African cuisine prepared with a modern twist.
Konero Recipebox
Bringing the culinary magic home with Konero Recipebox. Our meal kits provide all the ingredients and instructions needed to recreate authentic African dishes, making home cooking a delightful adventure.
Konero Yellowbox
Discover convenience with Konero Yellowbox, offering ready-to-eat meals that capture the essence of homemade goodness. Convenient, nutritious, and bursting with flavour, these meals cater to the demands of busy lifestyles.