Kevin Eze; the Food Entrepreneur with a Million Dollar Dream

Most people know Kevin Eze a.k.a “xclusive pikin” as an ex-celebrity blogger and now an Entrepreneur/Online brand strategist, but he is way more versatile than these. A young entrepreneur whom started at a very tender age building and establishing his brands, some which includes Iconplus Africa (Management Company) and Beta Socials (Social Media Agency), he was been recognized as part of one of the fastest growing defunct entertainment website “NaijaXclusive” which earned him a nomination on the U-30 achievers awards.

He has always being passionate about computers and internet and he has made some major contribution towards the growth of the internet from a tender age, he has being part of the top tech forums and has successfully published a number of articles on his website and some major tech websites.

Kevin Eze is also a staunch food lover and he expressed this on his recent interview with Ikechi Ezeako of Independent Newspapers on why he created his food brand African Food Network; a food website dedicated to showcasing different African recipes and promoting local chefs within the continent.

“Am an entrepreneur and a food lover, I started African food network because I felt the need for proper education in the preparation of African dishes not only to the Africans but to the people of other culture/tribe/race across the globe, and also to promote our local chefs as well, the world is interested in Africa today and its best we portray Africa in the best way possible.”

Asking Further on what motivated him to press forward on such bulky tasks, more details on what it’s about, how he intends running it and what will the food bloggers benefit, he had this to say;

“I have been a advent food lover right from when I was a boy, those who know me personally can attest to that and I’ve always being about the growth of our own local dishes I remember when I was a boy and I asked my mom why the big eateries promote mostly intercontinental dishes and not our local dishes and she couldn’t give me a tangible answer that gave birth to my curiosity why our local African dishes are not being promoted enough and with the mindset of most our people we make our own dishes feel inferior to the white man dishes.

I created a personal food blog in 2009 to showcase my food journey and I posted mostly our local delicacies but now it’s shut down cos I couldn’t keep up with it, in short that food blog gave birth to the African food network idea to be regenerated a year after it being shut down, African food network is a food platform for any food lover; you can come to the site to learn new recipes and watch new videos from different food bloggers cos it’s not a personalized thing you can even submit your special recipe to be published as well as video too.

We are currently working on a monetization plan for food bloggers, and a mobile app would be launched before the end of the year cos we’re currently gathering thousands of contents for the directory. African Food Network is stepping up to fill this unsaturated niche. From recipe databases’ to healthy living articles. As part of our mission to promote our own chefs we also have a special page dedicated to promote African chefs, we would still stick to our goal of redefining the world view of African cuisines.”

I believe this is a daunting task on his own path, showcasing African recipes the right way and getting more local chefs to be recognized. This is a million dollar dream, considering the fact that the African food industry is a billion dollar industry and he is one of the few food entrepreneurs in the continent with a dream to redefine the world view of African cuisines, we inquired if he would be working with any food experts on this?

“African Food Network is designed to inspire creativity in viewers’ kitchens and self-empowerment in their lives while representing Africa as a continent in a more positive way; so obviously I would be working with food experts, food bloggers, Chefs etc. I am currently working on a project with Nena Ubani (a popular African Vegan Chef in UK) on promoting healthy eating to the African folks through our respective platforms and also Maryam al-Mansour (a medical doctor with specialization in Nutrition Education).”

As a full believer of the African dream and an advocate I believe we should support our own in a positive way, if you’re feeling hungry in any way I’ll advise you to visit the website https://afrifoodnetwork.com lest you salivate at what you see.