A family-run food business which started in Woolwich 26 years ago is helping to bring West African dishes to a much wider audience across Britain.
Tasty African Food was founded by the Olaleye family in 2000. What began as a local business in South East London has since grown to 29 locations across London and the South East, with its food now also appearing on the shelves at Sainsbury’s.
Ahead of Black History Month this October, the family has been reflecting on how attitudes towards African food have changed since they first opened their doors.
For many years, finding good West African food in Britain often meant knowing where to look. Restaurants and takeaways were well established in areas with large African communities, but dishes familiar to Nigerian and other West African households were far less visible elsewhere.
That has gradually started to change.
African restaurants have opened in more parts of the capital, dishes such as jollof rice have become better known outside West African communities, and African food brands are finding their way into major supermarkets.
Tasty African Food has seen that shift first-hand.
Its expansion has taken the company well beyond its original Woolwich home, while its move into supermarkets means people who may never have visited a West African restaurant can now pick up African dishes as part of their weekly shop.
For the Olaleye family, reaching more people has always had to be balanced with keeping the food recognisable to the customers who grew up eating it.
The business is still family-owned, and the Olaleye matriarch remains involved in the day-to-day running of its kitchens.
That connection matters because, for many of Tasty African Food’s customers, the food is tied closely to home and family.
Recipes such as jollof rice, stews, soups and Nigerian meat pies are everyday foods for millions of people, even if they are still relatively unfamiliar to some British shoppers.
Tasty African Food wants to help close that gap without watering down the food in the process.
Its growth also comes at a time when Britain’s relationship with African food is changing. London in particular has seen growing interest in West African cooking, with restaurants, chefs and food businesses bringing dishes that were once mainly known within African communities to new customers.
Black History Month gives the Olaleye family a chance to talk about where the business came from, but also about the community that helped build it.
Tasty African Food has previously used the month to support local organisations. This has included providing complimentary food packs to staff from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Network at Newham University Hospital.
Community work has remained part of the company as it has expanded. Despite now operating dozens of locations, the business still describes affordability, family and its roots in the communities it serves as central to what it does.
It is a very different business from the one the Olaleyes started in Woolwich in 2000. The wider food scene has changed considerably too.
For younger generations of Black Britons, having African food more readily available can make it easier to stay connected with dishes they grew up with. At the same time, people with no previous connection to West African cuisine are encountering those same foods for the first time.
That is where Tasty African Food sees its next stage of growth: making African food easier to find while making sure the recipes, people and culture behind it are not lost along the way.
After 26 years, the family is still serving many of the dishes it started with. The difference is that the audience for them is getting much bigger.
