In less than two years, first-generation Liberian-American citizen Perteet Spencer scaled her Chicago brand's production to reach more than 4,000 retail locations nationwide.

Audarshia Townsend, Content Director, Food & Beverage Insider

November 18, 2022

3 Min Read
AYO Foods brings West African flavors to retailers' freezers
AYO Foods

Imagine strolling down the grocery aisles and not finding your favorite comfort foods and ingredients. No tortillas and salsas. No noodles and tomato sauces. No frozen pizzas, burritos or eggrolls.

Perteet Spencer repeatedly found herself in this situation. As a first-generation Liberian-American citizen, she grew up eating authentic West African fare at home and learned from her father how to cook it. But like many consumers who just want to come home after a long day and pop a frozen pizza in the oven instead of making it from scratch, she wanted the convenience of doing the same with West African dishes.

That's when Spencer and her husband, Frederick, conceived AYO Foods, a Chicago, Illinois-based company specializing in West African cuisine. Launched in July 2020, AYO Foods produces frozen and boxed foods as well as a line of hot sauces. In less than two years, the business grew from selling its products in 50 stores to more than 4,000 locations nationwide, including Kroger, Target and Whole Foods.

While AYO Foods sounds like an overnight success story, Spencer attests that the journey was hardly a cakewalk. For one, she says, West African food is "very anti-mass production." 

"It's very hard to turn [West African fare] into a CPG brand, so that had its own set of challenges, and that's why we haven't seen this food on a broader stage before," the former foodservice executive further explains. "But once we actually got the food in people's mouths for the first time, they [appreciated] it. There are a lot of misperceptions about West African foods, and we're on a mission to debunk that."

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AYO Foods brings West African flavors to retailers' freezers

They're doing it by producing some of the most popular West African dishes, with the first product—a Liberian classic—a cassava leaf stew made with ground cassava leaves, chicken and several spices.

"That's a go-to for Liberians," Spencer says. "We wanted to provide dishes that were true to our experiences from home, but also dishes that were shared across cultures." She adds that narrowing down AYO's offerings was difficult as 17 countries, each with their own unique traditions and cultures, make up West Africa.

"Our first dishes were really rooted in this idea of 'let's celebrate in the shared experiences,' even though everyone might put a slightly different flair on it," she explains. In addition to the frozen cassava leaf stew, the line includes a traditional preparation of the tomato-based jollof rice as well as egusi soup, chicken Yassa and waakye.

The brand's founders commissioned culinary notables Eric Adjepong and Zoe Adjonyoh for their star power and recipes for chicken Yassa and waakye, respectively. And in 2021, AYO Foods launched pepper sauce, a traditional, spicy concoction that's her family's signature recipe, and shito sauce, a slow-cooked, thick paste with a fish base.

"It goes on pretty much everything at the house, from eggs to pizza to grilled vegetables," Spencer says. "There is always shito on the table." 

Early in AYO Food's CPG journey, says Spencer, people questioned why its products were in the frozen aisles. 

"For us, it was very much the obvious place because we wanted to provide [traditional West African dishes], and frozen was a space where we could deliver a complete experience and make it really easy to enjoy," she explained. "Our vision is to extend [West African] flavors across the store. Frozen was the beginning. And the launch of sauces was the indicator of that as well as what's to come for our brand." 

Food and Beverage Insider

This piece originally appeared on Food & Beverage Insider, a New Hope Network sister website. Visit the site for information on ingredients, product development and regulatory issues.

 

About the Author(s)

Audarshia Townsend

Content Director, Food & Beverage Insider, Informa Markets

A lifelong Chicagoan, Audarshia Townsend is a veteran food and beverage journalist who serves as the content director for Food & Beverage Insider. She also appears regularly on local and national media outlets to discuss food and beverage trends. When Townsend's not on the eats beat, she's an avid yogi and meditation practitioner. Reach her at [email protected].

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