Writer
The founder of Green Grill restaurant Madey Adeboye is currently providing good and healthy foods in order to promote healthy eating habits among Nigerians.
Madey’s decision to specialize strictly on green and nutritious food seemed like a risk, but not when you consider that healthy eating, particularly in metropolitan cities in Nigeria has slowly but surely become the preferred option of the young and employed.
Madey Adeboye, who hails from a blend of the Middle belt and Northern regions of Nigeria projects this cultural infusion through a wide range of African dishes. Madey loves cooking, especially delicious and healthy meals.
Experience further encouraged her to delve into a healthy food business, especially when she realised that she could eat better while enjoying African delicacies. “I love okra soup and I realized that I could make my okra soup with healthier meat; instead of using beef I used chicken and fish. I also realized I didn’t have to use oil,” she explained.
She started Green Grill as a food business that made a range of Nigerian dishes and strictly did deliveries upon order. As the business progressed, the unthinkable happened; there was a higher demand for salads than any other dishes available. She then began sourcing for spices as an aid to creating different and savoury dishes that stood out.
Even though profit making is important, this start-up business is focused on the ultimate goal—changing the way Africans eat. Amidst other challenges like sourcing good vegetables from outside Lagos and occasional scarcity, Madey has managed to forge ahead. “We have loyal customers who have been with us since we started and then we have loyalists who have given us a chance. We have made mistakes so they have been watching and have pin pointed out our mistakes and they have given us a second chance to redeem ourselves.” she said.
For a young woman armed with just the initial idea of owning an healthy meal restaurant, Madey is on the path to revolutionizing the concept of healthy living and even possibly creating the first Nigerian ‘clean and green’ franchise.
