Afrolems at 500 Dishes Food Fair

If there is anyone that can give excuses for why things should not happen, I am the champion. Little wonder how I get anything done and how this brand has even grown to this stage lol. When 500 dishes contacted me to be part of their food fair, I opted for the easier way out which was to help them promote their event. Thankfully, they pushed for more and asked for me to sell food at the event. My brain started running in circles. I hadn’t done the research on logistics of anything. Sometimes it is important to just take that step of faith anyway. I have done events in the past. None in Nigeria though but shouldn’t be too difficult if you ask the right questions.

I was asked what I would make and I quickly jumped at Pancakes and Asun. Of course the guy gave me a weird look like what in the world are you talking about. How is that even a palatable combination?  I told him to trust me and just leave the rest to me. I could tell he was uneasy about it but what choice did he have, my mind was made up and I sounded excited about it.

The truth about this combination is that my Asun supply guy dropped some asun off the night before. The next morning I was trying some of the asun and my mum was making pancakes. I plopped both on the same plate and started eating it together. I then decided to place some asun on the pancakes to pretend it was a wrap and voila this dish was born. So when the folks at 500 dishes were doubting my combo, I just couldn’t wait to prove them wrong. 

If you have followed my journey, you know I am big on presentation. I decided to serve my pancakes and asun on a hot dog tray so when I could not find hot dog trays in Lagos easily, I went into full panic mode. By the way anyone that sells hot dog trays in bulk or fancy packaging should please contact me. I still need to get some for the future. Anyway I settled for a plate I found in a shop. I went around to source for Orange napkins because brand colors. I bought some fancy cocktail forks, we packed our things and we were off to set up for the food fair. 

The flyer said it would start at 12 but with the heavy rains that sunday, I had my doubts. We ended up starting at exactly 1pm. The minute Funmi from Village pot and her friend walked up to my stand, the line never stopped till we completely sold out. I have to say people that came to my stand shocked me primarily because they had never tried the combination and they were willing to have a go at it. Even some people that came to pick up their plates said If I don’t like this combo I am returning it o. We shared some laughs and they came back to testify that the combo was the truth.

Here are some lessons I learned from participating in the 500 dishes Food Fair

• Be quick to pivot on ideas in your head (hot dog tray accessibility versus other plating options)
• Get someone to assist you who is also a thinker. Shout out to Georgia. We had to quickly pivot on the way we were serving our guests because people were jumping the lines to get to the pancakes.

• The rain will never stop Nigerians from getting their food so don’t plan your events in Nigeria around the weather.
• Smile and make conversations as much as you can with people at your stand, it builds a more personal experience with your consumers especially after they have waited 1 hour in line for pancakes lol. 
• Most of all trust yourself and your product. As long as you believe in it, others will too.

If you were at the event, leave a comment to let us know if you liked your pancakes and Asun.