Guests in attendance included: Toyosi Etim Effiong, Stephanie Coker, Kehinde Smith, Taje Prest, Toju Foyeh, Nnenna Okoye, Timini Egbuson, Tiffany and Stephany (TWINS), Abimbola Craig, Afua Osei, Idia Aisien, Tosin Etim Effiong and so many others came in.

National Froyo Day was celebrated on Tuesday, February 6th at all Sweet Kiwi locations. Ehime Eigbe Akindele, the founder of Sweet Kiwi Yoghurt used the day as an opportunity to celebrate 7 years of her entrepreneurial journey and nurturing her brilliant idea of a healthy treat being available right her sin

The day started off on a very cheerful note with the school; Starfield Montessori school, influencers and regular customers experienced a whole new world at Sweet Kiwi as they tried new and superb flavours of FroYos for free! It was even a bigger and better experience for the guests as they got served by their celebrity crushes. The Influencers and celebrities themselves could not get a hang of the day as they enjoyed creating their own mix and recipes which will be available at all Sweet Kiwi locations for a month.  Timini named his own mix “Taste Timini”, Idia named hers Naughty

Sweet Kiwi did not leave out the top notch media houses and influencers that couldn’t make it down to any of the stores in Lagos as special deliveries were made all around Lagos to platforms such as  Belle Naija, Pulse Nigeria, Genevieve Magazine, Kamdora, Media Room Hub, Fomo Lagos, Diydose, Akin Faminu, Sisi Yemmie, and many more.

Sweet Kiwi yoghurt is social!

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @sweetkiwiyogurt

You can also check out their website by following this link http://sweetkiwiyogurt.com

Welcome to Sweet Kiwi

Ehime Eigbe Akindele – Founder Sweet Kiwi

Abimbola Craig

Abimbola Craig and Nowe Isibor

Idia Aisien

Idia Aisien

Idia, Taje, Timini and Toyosi

Kehinde Smith

Nnenna Okoye

Sweet Kiwi nurses, Nowe Isibor, Ehime and Abimbola Craig

Taje Prest

Taje Prest, Akin Mariano Toyosi Ettim Effiong

Timini

Timini and Toju Foyeh

Toju Foyeh

Toyosi and Adeysoile

Toyosi Ettim Effiong

Ehime Akindele

Ehime Akindele the owner of Sweet Kiwi Frozen Yogurt has been invited as a Delegate – Entrepreneur to Hyderabad in India for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit between the 28th – 30th of November, 2017.

The United States of America and the Republic of India announced that the eighth annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit will be taking place in Hyderabad, India on 28-30 November, 2017.

Global Entrepreneurship Submit is a preeminent annual entrepreneurship gathering that convenes emerging entrepreneurs, investors and supporters from around the world. This year’s Summit will be such an amazing one because its highlight is on the theme Women First, Prosperity for All and the President of America, Trump would also be around to inspire the attendees.

The summit seeks to support women entrepreneurs and foster economic growth globally through two and a half days of networking, mentoring, and workshops. The summit also seeks to empower entrepreneurs, encourage them to pitch their ideas, build partnerships, secure funding, innovate, find their target customers and most importantly creating 

In 2009 whenEhime Eigbe Akindele visited Nigeria on holiday from the US, she kept asking for where to buy Frozen Yoghurt and nobody could give her an answer. That motivated her to quit she job at Citi Group, in Texas, USA and come back to Nigeria to establish Sweet Kiwi. Five years after, Sweet Kiwi Frozen Yoghurt is strategically branded as the go-toplace for frozen yoghurt in Lagos, Nigeria. 

A Goldman Sachs 10, 000 Women scholar and a public speaker, Ehime holds a degree in Business Information Technology and International Studies from London Metropolitan University and completed Entrepreneur Management programme at the Enterprise Development Centre of Pan African University, Lagos. She has also received certifications in restaurant management and dessert manufacturing. In this interview with Guardian Woman, she discusses plans for her business among other things.

You left your job with the Citigroup in the US to set up Sweet Kiwi in Nigeria? What prompted the decision?
I saw a gap/ opportunity in the Nigerian market as there were no frozen yoghurt stores at the time in the country and decided to take a chance by starting my own frozen yoghurt brand in Nigeria.

Why yoghurt as a choice of business? Could you have invested in another business?
I fell in love with the whole concept of frozen yoghurt, because I love dessert and this was a healthy way to have dessert without counting calories and worrying about the impact on your weight or cholesterol level.

How do you source materials for your products? Does the forex crisis impact your overhead?
The forex crisis has greatly destabilised out business. We use real yoghurt made in Nigeria to make our frozen yoghurt however the forex crisis impacts everyone as little is manufactured in Nigeria. Even items made in Nigeria have increased greatly in price, locally grown fruit as well. We get price increase notices almost monthly. We also source the majority of our other supplies abroad as they are not produced in Nigeria. Our overheads have increased greatly, it is unfortunate that the government refuses to provide forex to ensure the survival of small businesses.

What were the initial challenges you had to contend with transitioning from being an employee to being an employer of about 30 persons?
I would say the first one understood the environment I was doing business in was the first challenge. Understanding the mindset and employee culture was also another challenge. I had to grow into the role, learnt from a lot of experiences both good and bad. Took a few courses, read a lot of books. I am continuously evolving as an employer and the experiences help set the tone for our employment policies.

Staffing poses one of the major problems for niche start-ups. How easy was it for you to get 30 employees to share your vision for Sweet Kiwi?
It is not an easy task but I tried to do my best to inspire my employees and get them to imbibe the company culture. One of the ways of doing that is by setting the best example for them to live up to in the way I carry out my own duties. Continuous training and great work life balance also help.

The Economic recession has impacted people’s purchasing power. How has this impacted on your earnings as a business?
Like everyone else we have felt the impact of the recession and the decline in purchasing power. We are hopeful that things would turn around but in the meantime, I try to minimise the negative effects and maximise the positives. Every situation is a learning experience and 2016 has been a great lecturer in the art of running lean operations.

How are you dealing with these/this impact(s)?
We have been focused on a strategy to stay in the industry and not just stay but flourish in these difficult times. Part of that is running lean operations like I said earlier, we are also trying to innovate in the space to combat the effects of the recession.

Are there plans to take your business out of Lagos to other Nigerian states?
Yes, we are looking to kickstart our franchise program to grow our brand into other parts of Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

Any regrets dumping your paid job for entrepreneurship?
I would not use the word ‘Dump’ but yes I have no regrets.

Who is Ehime Eigbe Akindele?
I am a simple, goal oriented woman who loves music and strives for perfection in all that I do.

See Article on The Guardian