In this Rethink What Matters podcast episode, host Paul Freudenberg interviews Joy Badiki, founder of BKM Foods (also referred to as Beacon Foods), an indigenous agro‑food processing company based in Lagos, Nigeria. BKM Foods produces plantain flour and snail‑based products (snail meat, shells for calcium, and other by‑products) aimed at providing healthier, locally sourced nutrition for both the Nigerian market and the diaspora. Joy explains that the personal loss of her grandfather to diabetes sparked a mission to educate Nigerians about diet and disease prevention. The company conducts grassroots health‑education campaigns through churches, hospitals, and community meetings, emphasizing early dietary awareness. She describes Nigeria’s diet as heavily carbohydrate‑centric, with high consumption of processed foods, sodas, and low exercise, leading to rising diabetes and malnutrition. Joy outlines major operational challenges: poor road infrastructure, removal of fuel subsidies, high logistics costs (especially for export to the UK and South Africa), inconsistent power supply, staffing shortages, difficulty retaining skilled workers, and limited access to finance despite her banking background. The workforce consists of seven people (four men, three women), with most staff on contract or internship, leading to high turnover. Competition is steep but there is market space. Snail farming is highlighted as a sustainable, low‑cost venture that also serves as a women‑empowerment program; the company offers free training via WhatsApp and Telegram. She notes that snail consumption is culturally variable but has high nutritional value, and that every part of the snail can be monetized (meat, shells for calcium, art). Positive outcomes include customer testimonies of improved blood‑sugar levels and overall well‑being after using BKM products, which Joy describes as more rewarding than monetary gain. She acknowledges broader public‑health issues in Nigeria such as child malnutrition and high child‑mortality rates, and points to the government’s inadequate healthcare provision. Lagos is portrayed as Nigeria’s commercial hub, essential for import‑export logistics and consumer purchasing power. Joy shares contact channels (LinkedIn, Instagram @bkemfoods) and expresses openness to diaspora customers and partnerships. Overall, the interview provides a detailed view of how a small, mission‑driven food enterprise navigates health advocacy, supply‑chain constraints, gender dynamics, and market opportunities while contributing to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well‑Being) in Nigeria.
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And getting it across to the international space in terms of logistics is stressful. The logistics within Nigerian market is also very stressful because the road networks are very terrible, costing us a lot. And now that there's fuel subsidy removal within Nigerian market, it's even more difficult because the cost of transportation of moving your goods from the farm down to the market or even down to the production side, there's a lot of money as well now.
Hello and welcome to Rethink What Matters, the podcast dedicated to aligning the economy with the ecology and everyone for improved business performance, stronger families, and a greener, cooler planet. And today I'm joined by Joy Badiki of BKM Foods in Lagos State, Nigeria. And we're going to be discussing good health and well-being.
Thank you so much for having me, Paul.
It's great. It's great to be speaking with you. So if you could start off with— yeah, if you could please explain a little bit about BKM Foods and what you're doing there.
All right, so Beacon Foods is an indigenous agrofood production and processing company centered in the heart of Lagos State, Nigeria, and approved by NAFAC, which is a food processing agency in Nigeria, to be able to produce food products that are consumable according to Nigerian law and standard. So basically what we do is that we farm and we process food products such as plantains and snails and we process them into finished products for local and international markets. So we process them into finished products such as plantain flour whereby people can use it for baking, biscuits, cakes, and pancakes. I will process snail shells into calcium for food, for food, food, food feed for animals. So this is basically what we do at Vegan Foods.
Okay, and what's been the driver for the business?
Okay, so the drive was when I lost my grandfather to diabetes, and it has been— it, it was a very terrible moment because he raised me. And the fact that losing a loved one to a disease that actually can be controlled and managed by what we consume, when we consume, and how we consume it makes me feel like there needs to be a lot of education out there. A lot of, a lot of information should be put out there for people to be aware of what they consume, that it affects their general well-being. So that is the drive so far.
Okay. And, and how have you been able to pursue that agenda of educating people Is it locally that you do that, or do you try and do this across Nigeria?
Okay, so locally, well, yes, we're doing that locally for now. We're doing grassroots communications. We put up a lot of strategy meetings, kind of, or awareness program that we hold within our localities, within churches, because Nigeria is a very religious country. So we put in a lot of awareness out there through church programs, through hospitals. Yes. When they have a meeting date with diabetic patients, we try to go there to have health talks and sensitization. So these are ways we've been able to get across to grassroots people so far.
Okay. All right. And so what are people eating generally, you know, in in Nigeria then? Are they eating unhealthily or are they eating— what sorts of food are they eating?
I think most of the food that they eat basically in Nigeria are carbohydrate-related foods, from rice to starchy foods. A lot of people consume a lot of starch and consume a lot of soda. People don't understand, and they don't understand the food balance kind of thing, or they, they just live their life and wait till doctors place them on diets before they eat right. So we are trying to sensitize people that they don't need to wait till that— till it gets to that stage, especially when you're even younger. You need to start early because you are the complete definition of what you eat. So you need to start early. So that is the sensitization we're doing. A lot of people just consume sodas, a lot of people don't really exercise. They tell you Nigerian stress and the traffic is enough already for them to be going to the gym, and they don't even eat the balanced diet. A lot of junks everywhere and all that. So it's a lot of work.
Sounds like the same as the whole world over, maybe. Um, So I don't know if it's any worse in Nigeria, but are you eating a lot of processed food over there then?
Yes, people take a lot of processed food. People take a lot of finished food, especially in Lagos, because people believe they don't even have time to go after farm-fresh food. So they take what is available. So a lot of people consume a lot, a lot of processed food. Yes, in Lagos, Nigeria, especially.
So the challenges of delivering SDG 3, good health and well-being. You're doing a great job there, obviously, with your business. So it really comes down to, you know, what are the challenges in running a food business, food production business like yours? For example, what about inconsistent power supply? I know that can be a challenge.
We have numerous challenges in Lagos, Nigeria, and I won't even lie about that because for So the challenges are logistics. We have logistics challenges like bringing the products fresh from the farm down to the factory where it will be processed. There's a lot of challenge. Staffing, you know, getting people who understand the vision and the mission. It's a lot of challenge as well. And getting, as you said, power supply is one major challenge. Currently we're on the subsidy in the country with fuel and also there are numerous challenges, but the major, major one currently is logistics.
And then what are those logistical challenges then?
Okay, so logistical challenges, one of the things is transporting our products from the farm down to the factory, getting it across to our final consumers. Let's say now we want to bring our products to the UK, uh, bringing our product to the UK using maybe DHL or, um, one of these air means of transportation, they were in cages and it's quite expensive in Nigeria. And a lot of customers were like, oh, why should I pay this much over just shipping to UK whereby the product is not even as expensive as the cost for logistics. So it's a major challenge for us going to South Africa, even taking— I mean, one of the issues is bringing it from the farm and the road transport issue, like the network, the road network is really terrible. So there are a lot of challenges.
But I would have thought that just the local market would be sufficient. Do you also need to export as well?
Yes, because a lot of Nigerians that live in the country for greener pastures, a lot of people want to get better life for themselves, so they're leaving the country daily and they still want to have a taste of African food anywhere they go to. So sometimes they want— they just want us to like, okay, deliver this product down to the UK, deliver to South Africa and all of that, beyond the African market, beyond the Nigerian market. And getting it across to the international space in terms of logistics is stressful. The logistics within Nigerian market is also very stressful because the road networks are very terrible, costing us a lot. And now that there's fuel subsidy removal within Nigerian market, It's even more difficult because the cost of transportation of moving your goods from the farm down to the market or even down to the production site is a lot of money as well now.
Okay. And are there— is there a lot of competition from bigger companies making it even more difficult?
Yes, yes, the competition is steep as well. But yeah, there's market for everyone.
Okay, that's great. That's great to know. And in terms of the workforce, then, are there many skilled people available to you?
Okay, so right now we have a team of 7 people and 4 are skilled people who work with us permanently. And it's really challenging to be able to pay these skilled workers because me a small growing business, so paying them is a little bit challenging. And the remaining people are on contract, like they are on contract, so they've been paid based on commission and all of that. So, uh, not getting people like people who are really deserving, they stay with you for a while and move on because everybody wants to be a salary, of course. And here we are, a lot of policies that are really restricting from getting more hands, a lot of policies from governments that are so not favorable. So all of those challenges, we mean retaining the best means paying them the best amount of money. Yes, to actually make it competitive for us to stay with them. But it's been challenging upping the game in terms of salary. And it's been difficult. It's been difficult keeping them. So it takes a lot. It takes a lot.
And because you're creating good, healthy food sustainably, does that attract people? Are they interested in working for you because, because of your mission?
Yes, but not everybody wants to work are as free workers or freelancer, or the highest we can do is get an intern. And an intern, we still have to tutor them on what to do and how to do it best compared to people who already have the skilled experience. People with skilled experience want a good rise in terms of salary, but people who are intern can go with practically anything. And but you, you still have to do the work. You still have to tutor them, do this at this time, send emails like this, talk like this to customers and all of that. So it's really draining, you know. And after a while, let's say 1 year, 6 months, they've moved on because they've gathered the experience, their eyes are open to better opportunities, they have the work experience with you already. They move on to greater heights. So it's really stressful. So you will now have to start looking for a new set of people, training them again. It's draining.
It's draining. I can imagine how hard that might be. And so in terms of being able to recruit people, hire people, does income inequality— is that playing a part there? Inequality generally?
Yes, inequality in terms of recruiting people, uh, we try to balance it, but we at the same time, we don't discriminate. As far as you have the right skills to offer, whether you're a female gender or a male gender, as far as you know what you want to do, you understand the vision and the mission of the organization, and you can keep up to it, we're good to go irrespective of the gender. But majorly, when it comes to the farm, we use more men because it's more of hard work there. So when it comes to marketing and female-related or office-related jobs, we do more women. So currently we are 7. We have 4 guys and we have 3 ladies with us. So that is our spreadsheets for now.
Okay, so you're doing your bit to help close the gap, if you like, between—
Yes, yes, yes, we are. As far as you have what it takes, no discrimination.
Right. So I can see there are many challenges, but let's talk a little bit on the positive side, can we? You know, what's the positive side of SDG 3, good health and well-being in Nigeria? What are the good things we can see?
Okay. It's really fulfilling when you get testimonies and feedbacks from people that, oh, since when they started eating this particular product from Piquem Foods, they feel better, they feel lighter, and maybe their blood sugar dropped and all, and they're getting healthier. It's the best thing. It's better off than money. Because I wouldn't say it's better off than money completely, but at least the fact that we're solving a problem problem and the people feel okay with themselves. It's really reviving for us regardless of the challenges, regardless of how tired we are that day. When people give us such feedback and testimonies, it's, it's amazing for us.
Great. And so what is the trend in Nigeria with respect to good health and well-being? Is it a trend that people are starting to think more and more they want to live more healthily or they're just, just really too busy trying to survive day to day.
Yes, yes, people are just trying to survive day to day, especially in the largest city in Africa, which is like the biggest economic power, Lagos State, uh, where the whole thing happened. People just want to live, people want to survive, people want to pay their bills. They don't care about, okay, am I eating right not until doctor place them on diet that you are sick, your blood sugar is high, you need to be eating more of this before people take it seriously. So we've not gotten to that level yet in Nigeria where people more conscious of their intake and more conscious of a healthy living. No, we're not there yet.
Right. Okay. Okay. And so how else do you think that you can help? Nigeria improve SDG 3?
It's just by creating more awareness. That's the truth. It's about creating projects. I keep telling my story about the loss of my grandfather. I keep telling people, I keep sharing my experiences. So when people hear, oh, they'll be like, wow. And it's, it's getting better, but it's not one person's job. We can only contribute. We We can't be the major person who will finish the whole work. We can only contribute in solving this problem. And that is what we are doing in our own bit and in our own space. So it's a lot of work and we hope to get there.
Okay. And what are the other mainly mental health challenges in the local area in Nigeria, in Lagos?
Yes, there's a lot of challenges, especially in child mortality rates. It's really high, and malnutrition among young people and children, it's really, really annoying. The fact that Nigeria is so blessed with a good atmosphere, good weather, good land, farming everywhere, people can eat fresh and healthy food, but we still suffer greatly with malnutrition. We still suffer greatly with mortality rates and even people, maybe child mother who just put to bed, they're not even feeding well. It's really heartbreaking. It's disheartening, but we hope to get there.
Yeah, absolutely. I think food is a big part of achieving that, isn't it? We are what we eat, as you say.
Yes, we are definitely what we eat. No matter how much you go to the gym to even reduce your calories, If you don't start from the kitchen, you are still joking. Your kitchen starts first. If you're, if you're looking at reducing maybe 10 kg or you want to drop in kg, you want to drop in pounds, whatever you're doing, your food intake controls every other thing. And people need to get this right.
Okay. What do you sell more than anything from BKN Foods? What's the most popular product that you sell?
Our plantain, our plantain flour, our snails. They're the basic things, like the most primary products that, yes, we— that is really moving the market. People want to eat snails. But funny enough, not every Nigerian eats snails. Not every Nigerian eats snails. There's some parts of Nigerians that they don't take snail. It's part of their religious belief that snail is not allowed in terms of their religion. But there's still a large market for it. Like, the demand is more than— the demand is currently more than the supply. And there are a lot of people out there who understand the nutritional value of snails. There are a lot of people who understand the nutritional value of contained, even though it's more expensive than other common foods around. So it takes a lot to talk to people and tell them the health benefits before they maybe patronize or something.
Okay. Did you say snails? What type of snail is it that they— that you—
in Africa, we have two major types of snails. We have a catena, a catena, and we have a Catena marginata. These are the two major types like African giant snails that we have. And these two types of snails, some, uh, there's a particular one that is for commercial purposes and there is another one that is just for consumption, like just come for consumption. So we do a lot of women empowerment, women trainings on how to start snail farming so that people can Do Your Work. We empower people completely free. We do it via social media, maybe Telegrams and WhatsApp classes, where people— because it really costs nothing to start a snail farm in Nigeria as far as you have a good environment to like, uh, farm the snails. And all other things, the feeding is so affordable, you don't need to break the bank. To take care of that. So we do all of that too.
That's great.
And, and the fun part of it is that no part of it is a waste. No part of it is a waste. Yes, yes, from every part of it you can generate revenue. Uh, from the snail itself you can sell it and get your money. From the snail shell, it can be used for work of art, it can be processed into cash calcium, as I said earlier, for, for feeding other animals and for beauty products. So no part of it is a waste.
With the snails, is that a very simple thing to cook? Is it?
If you go to our Instagram page, you will see how we've prepared some snails. We put the videos there on how to prepare snails, like at BKM Foods on Instagram. Nigeria. So basically, the most popular food in Nigeria is jollof rice. Yes, right. So jollof rice is for everybody, regardless of your religion, regardless of your tribe, regardless of where you're from. African jollof or the Nigerian jollof is the real food. So people having parties and everything, they want jollof rice to be present. Yeah. So, and if they're eating jollof rice, beyond the chicken, they will eat they can eat it with spells.
So the challenges then are in for good health and well-being. Would it be then around the, the health and medical side of things, the provision of healthcare to people?
When it comes to healthcare issue, I leave that to the government because I think the government is not really doing enough in terms of healthcare in Nigeria. And a lot of our policymakers and our leaders, they would rather travel outside, come to the UK for treatment, rather than invest here in Nigeria for proper healthcare space. So in terms of healthcare, um, that is to the government, uh, it's terrible, but we're hoping for the best. Yeah.
What about access to finance? Is that difficult for you in running a business in Nigeria?
Yes, that's it. Yeah, access to finances, it's a little bit difficult, but One thing I realized is because I have banking experience, it has really helped me. If once you understand your books in terms of your debit and your credit, your inflow, your cash flow, if you have a proper statement of accounts for your business, not using your personal accounts for the company's accounts and all of that, once you have good books and banks see that you're doing the right thing, they, they're, you interested in investing into your business. They're interested in giving you loans, although the interest rates might be very high. So, but you will definitely get something. The Bank of Industries, uh, that we also— once your books are tidied up very well, you get funding. Angels and investors are also everywhere, but it depends on how you defend your product, why should I invest in it? So access to funding might be a little bit challenging initially, but once you understand the trick, you will get it right.
Okay, but how representative is Lagos State, you know, of Nigeria more widely?
Lagos State is very big. Oh, that's well populated, and it's the commercial city. Like, I Everybody does business in Lagos. If you're coming from anywhere in the world, you will need to get to Lagos first to understand, okay, what do you need to sell to these people and how do you need to sell it? So Lagos State, it's, um, it's not the capital, it's not the capital of Nigeria, but, uh, in terms of commercial space, Lagos State is holding it down. That's just the truth. And the population, uh, you very huge. We have huge population in Lagos, and the buying power of Lagos State people is very high. So Lagos State is the real deal. A lot of shipping companies are here, you know, when they're importing directly, it gets to Lagos, people clear it in Lagos, and it's been distributed to other parts of the country. So everybody looks up— we they all look up to Lagos to clear their containers or shipping products or whatever they shipped into the country, rather. And Lagos State is huge, right?
Okay, okay.
I will love to see you in Lagos State. So when you come around, I can take you around.
I'd love that. That'd be great.
I'd love to do that. All right.
You know, are you looking for customers in the UK?
Yes, we're open. We're open to diaspora African market. Companies who wants to expand into Africa or partnership, we are open to all of that. We are ready for business. So if they're looking, we're here in Africa, we're here in Nigeria.
And how, how can people get a hold of you then, Joy, if they want to? Where should they go to reach— how can they reach you?
All right. So they can check us out on LinkedIn at the BKM Foods. Or my personal page as Joy Kemi Babaki, or they can check me out on Instagram @bkemfoods. On all our social media pages, @bkem_foods.
That's been a great insight, Joy, into SDG 3, good health and well-being there in Lagos State, Nigeria, in Nigeria more generally. Thank you very much for your time.
