ABISOLA DEJONWO-TOKAN HITS IT OFF WITH ANNUAL FOOD FAIR, TASTE OFF LAGOS

Abisola Dejonwo-Tokan

The recently concluded Taste off Lagos food festival was a huge success; with over 40 vendors gathered at the Freedom Park on Broad Street Lagos came alive with sweet aroma of gourmet meals, traditional and continental dishes, deserts, pastries and salads. Taste Off Lagos is Nigeria’s foremost outdoor food festival that showcases Nigeria’s diversity in fine dinning and food retailing. The food fair was organised by Aldo Global services, owned by Abisola Dejonwo-Tokan.

Various vendors from all over Lagos came out to exhibit and sell the very best of their signature dishes to the metropolitan Lagos crowd. The delicious array of food was complemented with music, exciting activities and of course loads of refreshing and exotic drinks from notable home grown and international brands. Food lovers from far and wide turned out in droves with family and friends in tow to be a part of this rich festival.

Dejonwo-Tokan is the daughter of Chief Wosilat Okoya-Seriki and the niece of foremost industrialist, Chief Rasaq Okoya, the Aare of Lagos and chairman of Eleganza Group of Companies. Married to Jide Tokan, an enterprising businessman, with two children, Adejonwo-Tokan has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Computer Science from the University of Kent at Canterbury.
Her career started as a financial consultant in the UK and Business Development Executive in two prestigious organizations in Lagos, Nigeria, before launching into the foray of Entrepreneurship.
In her quest to discover and always rediscover her potentials, she delved into the foray of the confectionery industry to be a Master Baker of International Repute. Simply put, an aspiration to create a difference in today’s economy.
Her business entails the production of confectionery products such as all types of bread, cakes, biscuits and other confectioneries. Her bakery, predominantly, services the wholesale market, which

include hyper supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and schools.
One of Dejonwo-Tokan's greatest challenge in starting her own business has been the Fiscal Policies on Establishments of SME’s, High Interest rates in sourcing initial capital, Huge wage bills and Human factors in prevalent economic situations in Nigeria such as sabotage, lack of professionalism and the lack of belief in womanhood.
However, she has been able to overcome some of these issues, and she believes that the experience she has garnered thus far, is one she is happy to have come by.
Dejonwo-Tokan is currently expanding her business frontiers by adding a bakery chain to her portfolio – Bakehouse. This will eventually become a franchise chain and would allow her to include investors on her board.

Several brands such as Heinekens, Tasir water, Patron, and Wilson Lemonade, supported this year’s edition of Taste Off Lagos; everyone who attended was given a free bottle of these refreshing drinks. Soulful Toyen was also in the house and wowed the crowd with her new single “Criminal”. It was a fun day for all those who attended with lots to eat, drink, and see more.