9ja Buka Restaurant

Immigrant-Led Food Startups Are Most Vulnerable to COVID-19 | Eater

"Built around authentic Nigerian dishes and sauces, this sole-proprietor business shifted from steady catering and freezer-meal contracts to producing shelf-stable jollof and an "Everything Sauce" as office and corporate work dried up; sales of prepared freezer meals fell sharply (about 68 percent), so the owner retooled recipes to meet retailer requirements (removing vegetable oil and cornstarch), navigated months of distributor silence before a member-owned food hub agreed to carry the sauces, and ultimately won placement across a 14-store regional co-op after a customer-driven campaign — a pivot that provided crucial cash flow even as catering prospects remain uncertain." - Brendan Seibel