How Victoria Mamza built a global food brand from the kitchen

In 2014, with no job offer in sight after graduation, Victoria Mamza, founder of Wangarau Foods, made a decision that would define her path. She chose to build something of her own.

What started as a small idea in her kitchen has since grown into a recognised food processing and distribution business now employing over 35 people and expanding its footprint across Nigeria.

Mamza, who is popularly known as ‘Urban Market Woman’ on social media, is building an important food brand in Nigeria. 

“After I graduated from university in 2014, I sought a job, but I couldn’t get any at the time. I was really looking forward to working,” she said in an interview with BusinessDay. 

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But what was supposed to be an obstacle to her dream was only just the beginning of a bigger vision that the country’s lagging labour market could not stop. 

“I was supposed to become a job seeker, but I realised I could create jobs instead,” Mamza said.

This new vision was born from a food supply gap prevalent among Nigeria’s professionals, who are often caught up in the hustle and bustle of work and lack time to cook or run market errands. 

It all started when a neighbour who worked in a bank complained about not having time to go to the market despite loving to cook. That moment sparked a realisation, she told BusinessDay. 

“There were many people like me, busy professionals who needed convenience without compromising on quality.”

Mamza started small, producing food items from her kitchen and selling to neighbours. Her first customers were people within her immediate environment, and orders were few. 

But even at that early stage, packing orders inside her small kitchen, her vision was clear. Mamza did not just want to sell food, but she also wanted to simplify cooking by taking away the stress of preparation.

“The initial concept wasn’t just to cook. It was to make cooking easier for people.”

Today, she supplies properly cleaned and packaged raw food items as well as well-cooked dishes to different households, organisations locally and abroad.

“I want to offer not just convenience, but also hygiene to ensure that whatever anyone orders, they can be assured that we offer one of the best quality,” Mamza explained.

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The learning phase

To build credibility, she invested in training, acquiring certification in food processing before gradually expanding her operations. From cooking in her kitchen, the business moved into her living room, and eventually into a physical store as demand began to grow. 

“I knew I wanted to do things the right way, so I went through training in food processing,” she said. 

However, although she was now prepared to scale, funding was a challenge.

The hustle phase

While funding was not forthcoming, Mamza took to door-to-door marketing, knocking on banks and neighbours’ doors in hopes that they would listen to what she had to say. 

And they did listen. “This phase of my business is the reason I have a lot of product lines. When I went to the banks, people were always demanding customised orders according to their health needs. This made me begin to prepare orders based on individual preference,” she said. 

The big break 

A breakthrough came in 2018 after she participated in a business reality show, where she was a runner-up. In that same year, she won a grant which enabled her to scale operations, acquire equipment, and employ her first staff. 

By 2019, the business moved into a brick-and-mortar location, marking a transition from informal operations to a more structured enterprise.

Growth accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic — a period that disrupted many businesses but created opportunities for Wangarau Foods. While movement was restricted, the company secured partnerships to supply food items for distribution, operating through the lockdown to meet rising demand.

“At a time when people were staying home, we were working around the clock,” Mamza told BusinessDay.

The surge in demand quickly outpaced the company’s capacity, forcing another expansion in 2021. What began with just a handful of workers grew into a team of over 20 employees, and later more than 35, as the business scaled. 

Today, Wangarau Foods operates across multiple product lines, including African food commodities such as egusi and crayfish, roasted proteins, Nigerian snacks, and different convenience food items. 

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Supports backward integration 

The company sources raw materials from across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones, building long-term relationships with farmers, many of whom she has worked with for years.

“Understanding the farmer is key. It’s not just business; it becomes a relationship. When you go directly to the farm to source from them, you have to first and foremost understand them and understand their challenges because they have their challenges as well,” she said. 

Beyond sourcing and production, logistics has also been a critical part of the business model. The company initially built its own delivery system before transitioning to partnerships with logistics providers to improve efficiency and scale operations. 

Despite challenges such as rising fuel costs and infrastructure gaps, Mamza says adaptability has been central to survival.

“Challenges are always going to be there, and so are the rewards. It’s like two sides of a coin. I don’t dwell on challenges, I’m always focused on solutions,” she said, noting that operating a business in Nigeria can be both challenging and profitable. 

Plans

Looking ahead, the company is focused on expansion, with plans to scale operations across multiple locations, including Lagos and Abuja, and eventually into international markets. 

Although it currently has a buoyant international demand, Mamza says she desires to someday have physical outlets across the world. 

For her, the goal remains simple: make food easier, better, and more accessible one customer at a time.

“We are trying to scale from where we are now to where we want to be next year. We are trying to get multiple locations for the products across Lagos. We are trying to do a vertical and horizontal way of scaling,” Mamza said. 

Adding that, “It will be within Nigeria, and we also plan to scale across the world.”