ABUJA, Nigeria – Mediaage NG News – Most persons who reside in the cities still long for that fresh unadulterated farm produce direct from the village, were the words of Kofoworola Treasure Oghenerukevwe (formerly Miss Molehin), an Abuja based nutrition-focused agro processing start-up founder.
The graduate of Chemistry from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State said minimal processing of locally sourced farm produce have several benefits for the body, including stabilizing of blood sugar level which her product, HBC Whole Grain Flour does.
Her experience of having bought an adulterated palm oil from the market in 2018 and subsequent research led her into establishing Hottadoz Agro-Processor.
Hottadoz is an acronym of “Home of the Trinity and Daughter of Zion” which she got the while meditating on the scriptures in the Unilorin.
What birthed Hottadoz Agro-Processor according to her was a solution to an experience she had when in 2018 she purchased unbranded 75cl of palm oil to cook. Unknown to her, it was an adulterated. Adding the palm oil as the last ingredient to an already made food, because that’s her usual way of cooking, she noticed a foul smell from the oil filled the atmosphere.
“I had to do away with the food because, I could not eat it”, she said.
“I was posted on field work in 2019 to Cross Rivers State (Nigeria). One day while working, I perceived this lovely aroma of banga (local name amongst the Igbos and Niger Deltans for Palm Fruit in Nigeria) and asked where it was coming from. On getting to the place, I saw the process of making palm oil. I bought 2 75cl bottles of the freshly-processed palm oil and brought it home here in Abuja, after using it to cook, that was the end of me purchasing palm oil from the local market here in Abuja. So, I felt I could actually get few gallons from Ogoja and sell here in Abuja as many others experienced same and craved farm-fresh unadulterated palm oil for their cooking needs. That was how we started HBC Palm Oil, “the purest you can trust”, she said.
“From palm oil, we now have 3 derivatives of gluten-free flour which is a solution to a personal experience I also had. I noticed that anytime I consume anything made of the popular white flour, whether cake, bread, meat pie, e.t.c., my body gets constipated. Putting into practice my research experience while on an NGO job here in Abuja, I found out that my body is gluten intolerant and the solution to that is consuming a gluten-free flour food products.
Her company which is a nutrition-focused agri-business, has created 3 derivatives of Gluten-free Flour that address the top factors of health concerns amongst adults namely high blood pressure, high blood sugar level and bad cholesterol. One of her most consistent Customer and Consumer of her products reported “stability in my blood sugar level” Also her husband who enjoys swallow being Urhobo-speaking once had a bulgy stomach as a result of consuming starchy swallow but it has reduced from his consistent consumption of swallow made from whole grains and vegetables.
“My husband loves swallow and I don’t like bulging stomach. So, I had to find a healthier way of him enjoying his swallow without bulging stomach” she said. These flour are being enjoyed by many more and preferred to the popular swallow.
“I also created the Superfoods Mix Flour which provides Consumers a diverse diet through the careful selection of locally sourced raw materials from the 5 main food groups. It has a lot of plant based protein, carbohydrate/resistant starch and vegetables that are all essential for the optimal performance of the body.
So, these products are answers to major health challenges people experience e.g. like those experiencing bad cholesterol, through consistent consumption of Hottadoz Agro-Processor gluten-free flour products, it expels it from the body. Also, those dealing with high blood pressure, my products can manage it. Then, the main one is blood sugar, these products also help in controlling it.
Kofoworola, who also has a PGD in HIV/AIDS Education & Management from the National Open University of Nigeria, gets an unusual feeling seeing single-use plastics wastes littered around, found ways of reducing wastes and ensuring her wastes from her products are not seen around.
“Somehow, I got irritated by seeing lots of wastes, she continued.
“I spent months looking for sustainable ways to ensure my business does not contribute to the menace caused by the use of single-use plastics for packaging palm oil and the only solution I had was the recycling of HDPE gallons. Through that, we’ve been able to recycle over 500 pieces of 5liters gallons since 2019 when we began the sale of HBC Palm Oil…”the purest you can trust” she proudly said with a smile, i.e. 2,500 liters gallons.
“Now, imagine I bought those gallons and we returned them to the environment, imagine the kind of additional nuisance it would have caused to the environment. By use of recycled HDPE gallons, production cost has also reduced, thereby, increasing our profit and enabled us stay afloat of some of the challenges experienced by others through factors of logistics, that is, increase in petrol price.
“Secondly, our flour products are eco-friendly packaged, meaning that I have to look for food-grade brown kraft paper. I don’t want to experience that guilt feeling upon walking along the streets and see my product packaging packs littered everywhere. But, with this paper packaging, once the content is consumed, it could be recycled for other products or disposed which decomposes within few days being biodegradable. So, we’ve been able to save our environment from plastic wastes.
Her company has made societal impacts by sending formerly out-of-school children back to classes and assisting women who were out of trading to get back to business.
“The community where my business operates from is like a semi urban settlement distance from the rural areas. We have lots of out-of-school children. We’ve been able to educate the parents on the importance of education through advocacy. To encourage them, we have five children in school that we offered scholarship. This is our second year running.
“One of them is Melody, a child with a special need. She was born with her two foots facing each other. So, she has been sitting on her butts all through her life
“The person that was paying her school fees relocated abroad. So, we took over.
We’ve also been able to send out-of-school children back to classes, four in primary and one in secondary.
“If you can empower a woman, you have empowered the community. So, serious minded women that are into trade but, couldn’t continue because of one issue or another, we gave them nano grants to continue, upon satisfaction with how they performed, they were given additional micro grants. We also taught them about the benefits of daily savings”, she said.
She said the company is currently working on its compliance requirements by regulatory organizations, nutrition certification, marketing, public relations, e.t.c. in order to reach more people with our 100% locally sourced healthy food products. With the achievement of strategies above, we are hopeful that Hottadoz will be a brand known for unadulterated farm produce, nutrition focused, due to the many health issues common in the Nigerian society.
“It was recently revealed by the Federal Ministry of Health that the price of diabetes medication has increased by 300%. Why do you keep spending much on reoccurring medications when you can just spend 50% percent on consuming our own 100% locally sourced and minimally processed health food products that have proven to improve the health of its consistent Consumers? She asks.
“My products are 100% locally sourced, locally processed and eco-friendly packaged using locally sourced materials, nothing imported. So, if we can get more patronage, this brand will be a household name in food and drinks products. That’s why I said we are working on compliance.
“In the next five or ten years, with compliance registration, with increased funding, we will be out there in every home! We will be in every Pharmacy where many persons with health issues can be reached.
We have different products for different categories of persons. Currently, we target those that are in their middle age, from 35 to the elderly because, they are the ones that experience these health issues. But recently, reports of younger ones between 25 – 32 being diagnosed of high blood pressure, diabetes and bad cholesterol is on the increase”.