The current lifestyle of our generation through excessive consumption of unhealthy and high-calorie foods leads to a large number of health risks.
However, with the knowledge of healthy eating habits and good body maintenance, people are now looking for healthy and delicious bites.
As consumers move away from unhealthy sodium-filled foods in bags, there is a growing demand in the global market for healthy snacks.
ReelFruit, a Nigerian-based dried fruit snack brand in Lagos, is offering healthy, natural alternatives and palatable snacks for Nigerians with its products available in more than 350 stores nationwide.
How It Started
Founded by Affiong Williams in 2012, ReelFruit is aimed to provide healthy snacks and high quality dried fruits in Africa and the rest of the world thereby enabling the emerging healthy snacks industry.
Affiong started the company after working at Endeavor, a South African incubator where she worked as a portfolio manager. Her time and experience in the incubator spurred the need to start ReelFruit.
Reelfruit is Affiong’s first attempt into the Nigerian agribusiness space with potentials in wealth and job creation.
Her company’s products are made from fruits like mangoes, coconuts, pineapple and cashews.
How ReelFruit has Upped their Game
ReelFruit started out with Affiongs personal savings and with a local start out, the company experienced a revenue increase by about 750% between 2014 and 2018.
However, with the large and growing number of active internet users in the country and people who keep searching for information and convenience, ReelFruit used instagram to grab the attention of many customers as the social media platform has become the place where people go to search and shop for items.
The company started social media marketing in 2018 with a focus on increasing its online visibility. It established a winning formula product pack called ‘Bundles’ to enable it to become a huge seller for its variety products.
Its bundle package consisting of its product mix – ‘Value Pack’, ‘Coco Pack’ and ‘Double Delight Pack’ along with its instagram promotions, has enabled the company sell its products at great prices with its free delivery at central locations In Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and other states across the country.
The result of ReelFruits’ instagram marketing has provided the company with 1,110% growth in revenue from its instagram sales alone.
Thus, the company’s services are constantly improved based on customer feedback about its products being launched in the market.
ReelFruit is Moving Forward
With a $3 million Series A investment increase in October 2021, ReelFruit is using its funds to expand its dried fruit production, develop new products, and set up a new plant in Ogun state to help expand its production capacity and increase exports 10-fold to 15 metric tons to states in the country, the US and other international markets this year.
As part of its expansion plans, the company plans to increase its monthly production of dried fruits which will enable the employment of up to 200 additional people to meet the increasing production requirements as the brand continues to supply the local and international markets with innovative new products and intends to expand its existing cooperation with Nigerian fruit growers in order to obtain high quality raw materials.
ReelFruit will expand its local and global sales channels and spread its new fund by adopting new technology to expand the startup’s offerings.
Final Note
With ReelFruits’ achievements and growing customer market, the Nigerian company is one for the long haul. It is promoting growth in the nation’s agribusiness sector by creating jobs, providing a market for local farmers, and also reduces fruit waste on a large scale.
However, while there is a two-way competition emerging in the healthy snack industry, ReelFruit is focused on building world-class, preservative-free and natural snacks for its customers for all health needs.
