Epe: Alaro City Has Been A Huge Success To Ariel Food- Dessa Shuckerow

The Chief Operating Officer of Ariel Food, Dessa Shuckerow has commended Alaro City, Free Zone, Epe for contributing immensely to the growth of the therapeutic food manufacturing company.

In an interview with Eko Hot Blog, she revealed how the city was able to provide all the necessary infrastructure and enabling environment to kick start the company, which today is now the biggest exporter of therapeutic foods in West Africa.

Alaro City is an urban development and joint venture of Rendevour, the largest city builder in Africa and Lagos State Government planned on 2000 hectares of land as a mixed-use city with industrial, commercial and residential options of low, medium and high-density options.

Shuckerow stated that Alaro City, and by extension Lagos and Nigeria, has favorable policies that would enable the company to grow and expand. “We are committed to growing and exploring different opportunities here in Nigeria.

We are planning to expand in Lagos and specifically in Alaro City. We have the space to introduce new production lines and more.

We are collaborating with partners who are keen on local production in Nigeria. Historically, Nigeria has been a net importer of our therapeutic food.

However, in 2022, when we began full production, we transformed Nigeria into an exporter of this food product instead of being a net importer.

This achievement was with just one food product. We are also exploring other nutritionally valuable products that have historically been imported into Nigeria, aiming to meet Nigeria’s needs and become an exporter of these products as well.”

As she succinctly stated it, “Six years ago, we decided as a company to come to Ariel Foods and to put up a brand and make ready-to-use food, and we were looking at what location will best suit us, and we found that Alaro City is have everything that we needed to put up world-class food factory, so we came here in 2018. We brought it down in June, and we have been running since 2021.

According to her, Ariel Food has been operating in Kenya for many years; however, with the creation of Alaro City, it became imperative for the company to have a taste of what Nigeria’s business environment looks like.

Our initial challenge was being new to Nigeria. However, with Alaro City, we quickly got started on our mission to provide food for malnourished children in Nigeria and West Africa.

Although we lacked previous experience working in Nigeria, Alaro City provided us with the confidence and support we needed.

“The development that was happening and the organization we are working with here in Alaro City really helped us,” she said.

Ariel Food specializes in the production of Therapeutic Foods, which are categorized into three types according to Shuckerow.

She explained, “Our main product is called RUTF (Ready To Use Therapeutic Foods). This food is designed for severely malnourished children and is used as a treatment in clinics or hospitals.

Once treated, children can take this food home with them for continued consumption, ultimately curing them from severe malnourishment.

In addition to this, we also offer other products aimed at preventive treatment to avoid severe malnutrition.

We cater to all the nutritional needs in Nigeria and have the capacity to export to 12 different countries.”she said

In her remarks about working in Nigeria, Shuckerow described her experience as pleasant.

She mentioned that the information she had initially received about Nigeria was different from what she encountered.

Shuckerow expressed that they had a positive experience in Nigeria and were able to set up their business without facing the difficulties that they had been warned about.

She highlighted their success in setting up quickly, their large production capacity, and the employment of 170 people.

She also emphasised the loyalty of their employees and the benefits of working with them.

Ariel Food has worked closely with the state and federal governments and found the regulatory system professional and helpful.

They have obtained certifications from NAFDAC for food products, experienced no issues, and received assistance from NAFDAC. The company has also obtained certifications from the Standard Organisation of Nigeria and international accreditation.

However, Shuckerow requested more regular face-to-face meetings with the management of Alaro City, emphasising the resources provided by Alaro City and the desire for closer engagement,” She concluded.

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