At the beginning of her journey with JAM The Coconut Food Company, Ebun Feludu spent a year living in the south of India to immerse herself in their coconut value chain. An experience which led to a better understanding about the power, beauty and delicacy of coconut. Today, the packaging of JAM products reflects the clarity of ambition behind Feludu’s venture. And all this began from her desire to solve a personal but shared problem – her severe lactose intolerance. She speaks to AMAKA about her vision for the future of the JAM brand, and the importance of mentoring for young African women entrepreneurs.
JAM The Coconut Food Company began six years ago in Feludu’s kitchen with her husband and two children. It has now grown into a team of 35 employees with four factories across Nigeria. Earlier this year, it was chosen as part of the inaugural class of Changing Narratives Africa Fellowship, a highly selective programme for African food entrepreneurs who are ready to scale their brands into global markets. Its tagline: ‘to heal, to feed, to beautify’ captures the company’s diversification across the wellness, food and beauty industries. Their products range from Oral Care Activated Coconut Charcoal to breakfast cereals and body oils.
Particularly remarkable about Feludu’s venture is her commitment to develop women’s economic capital, 80 percent of JAM staff are women. In 2015, she founded iGrow Agric-Invest, an all-woman-board investment club, which aims to invest in the agriculture value chain and source agricultural produce from female farmers first.
Business for Feludu has not been without its challenges, especially when it comes to getting a steady supply of electricity, the bane of every Nigerian manufacturer’s existence. Over the crack of my unstable wifi, Feludu tells me with humour, “If there was one superpower I could have, I would find whoever is behind the darkness and turn on all the lights in their hearts, so they can turn the lights on for Nigeria.”
But as Feludu knows, an entrepreneur’s job is not to celebrate challenges but to solve them. She started her career 20 years ago as a research assistant for the BBC, and soon after, joined Farafina magazine, a general interest magazine published by Kachifo Limited from 2004 until 2009. Among her many entrepreneurial ventures, Feludu founded Plug Media in 2008. In June 2020, she was made president of the Nigeria-India Business Council which connects women entrepreneurs in Nigeria and India. JAM The Coconut Food Company is the result of Feludu’s careers as both a media professional and serial entrepreneur. Everything is storytelling, but a good story depends on a good product, she tells AMAKA.
AMAKA: When did you realise JAM The Coconut Food Company is what was missing in the world?
Ebun Feludu: It started with me looking for plant-based milk as my lactose intolerance got quite severe. I started making coconut milk and it was so delicious that my family and I would also offer it to guests. I thought there must be more people out there like myself, so I reached out to Neo Cafe and asked them if they would be interested in coconut milk for their lactose-intolerant customers. They were our first corporate B2B client. From that, we did more research and saw that so much more could come out of a coconut.
Everything is storytelling
Your business was born out of a personal experience, how were you able to pivot from communications to agro-processing, and how pivotal was your media background to setting up your own business?
There are so many layers to the intersections. Everything is storytelling. It’s important to be able to convey the idea you have in mind and convert it to your desired action. My media and communications background came in handy; from speaking to Neo Cafe and getting them to say yes, to the way our products look, understanding our clients and the language to speak to them so there’s a reverb between our communication and their hearts. Our branding—the look and feel of our products, website and social media channels—comes second nature to me because of my 20-year immersive experience in media. But, while communication has been key to our success; you have to do your research and develop a product first. That’s number one and then communication follows.
How has the company evolved since 2016?
We started in my kitchen, it was just my family and I. Now, we have 35 staff, operating from two factories across four locations: two in Lagos, one in Abuja, and Ibadan respectively.
How did you go about raising capital for setting up the company?
In the beginning, I was bootstrapping, reinvesting everything back into the company, and I poured money from my media company into this. We have also received grants and support from Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), Unusual Entrepreneurs and the Inaugural ECOWAS SME Pitch.
"I have had many other businesses, but JAM has shown me that I’m more interested in things that can grow, recreate or procreate, be they people or ideas"
Where do you envision JAM The Coconut Food Company in the next 15 years?
In 15 years, I see us thriving, owning our coconut plantations, setting up factories in two or three other countries, and having access to wider markets in regions across Africa and globally.
Don’t ignore the power of mentoring
How has your entrepreneurship journey shaped and changed you?
It has helped me understand myself better, and I have accepted that I really am an entrepreneur through and through. I have had many other businesses, but JAM has shown me that I’m more interested in things that can grow, recreate or procreate, be they people or ideas.
It has also taught me that I’m ultimately driven by ideas that are bigger than myself; find your why, and make sure it is bigger than you. It’s the only way you can be extraordinary as an entrepreneur. If you are just seeking a bypass, a way to pay your bills, then you do not need to do anything extra. But if the burden on your shoulders is to do something that will impact thousands of other people, you quickly understand that you need to tap into the supernatural inside of you.
What are the most rewarding moments and biggest obstacles on this journey?
The most rewarding moment would have to be the first coconut seedling we put in the ground. It’s also rewarding every time customers send us random messages saying, “I love this product! I can’t believe it is made in Nigeria. It should be all over the world.”
The biggest obstacle is definitely the poor energy supply. As a producer in Nigeria, electricity is oftentimes responsible for hindering your growth at the rate you would like. We are such phenomenal people but just imagine the exploits we could make if the lights could come on [steadily]!
And what excites you these days in Africa’s agri-business ecosystem?
There are a lot of people who were previously in oil who are now diversifying into agriculture. They are taking a lot of capital from oil and investing that into agriculture. You will also find a lot of young people with minimal capital who are coming up with brilliant ideas and that’s exciting!
Another thing is seeing people connect more to the earth, touching the soil. I think that makes us all a bit more humane and it’s what our world needs.
Any parting advice to young women entrepreneurs in Africa?
I tell this story to say, find somebody who is lightyears ahead of you. They do not necessarily have to be in the same field. After all, in this environment, you could easily be a pioneer. But find somebody that’s doing something you desire to do and hold on to them.