Sunmo

VICTORIA OMUBUWAJO.

PHOTOS BY JASMINE MALONE WORDS BY VICTOR DAVIES

SUNMO CHIPS.

Who is Victoria Omobuwajo?

I am a passionate business woman who takes pride in all I put my hands to. I act as a speaker at events and young leader within the community this includes mentoring individuals and delivering business workshops for young people in Hackney. I have undertaken various public speaking events in London including City Hall, London BBC Radio, and Food Matters Live. I take passion in the next generation and giving advice based on my current experience.

SUNMO Snacks is the center of attention and is achieving great success in the snacks industry currently in the UK. Be sure to look out to see more of our new product developments.

How did the idea of Sunmo Chips come about?

Sunmo Snacks was originally formulated in my Mother’s Dalston kitchen, Sunmo™ Snacks were inspired by the Nigerian cooking and flavours of my family’s heritage. Think me using every pan in the kitchen and my brothers being the taste testers shouting “more spice!” and you get the picture. Now seeing Sunmo products produced in a manufacturing site is amazing. I wanted to share the delicious flavours and quality ingredients so many know and love and make them relevant to millennials. Describe how you felt the first time you saw Sunmo Chips in the likes of Sainsbury’s.

Overjoyed! I remember praying to be stocked in Sainsbury’s stores and giving pitches to investors and business peers that map out selling in Sainsbury’s stores as our route to market. So to achieve my plans is so amazing and it reminds me that I can achieve so much more and all that I plan for.

How has being a young black female leader in an industry affected your path to success?

Initially, I was told I shouldn’t show myself to be the face behind the brand because I am black. However, I decided to be bold and courageously put myself out there as the CEO and Founder of SUNMO. It has given us a lot of publicity as people are shocked and often see the SUNMO brand and think it is run by an older person or already a huge corporation. I have had comments of people not believing I am behind the brand as I am young. I have found being young, black and female that I am often the only young woman on panels or the only black person, and experiencing this has made me even more determined to open the doors wide for people who look like me to be inspired to enter. This has made me a lot busier, mainly because I often get asked to be a mentor to other young people and I have a passion for helping young people so I always agree to.

Each pack of Sunmo plantain crisps sold provides a meal for an orphaned child in Nigeria. Tell us more about the initiative and the importance for you to give back to your community.

Giving to children who need it the most has always been a passion of mine. So setting up the SUNMO foundation that makes sure each packet sold will feed a child. Therefore when we sell 10,000 packets this means 10,000 children fed, is exactly what keeps me active with growing the SUNMO brand. As soon as I came up with the idea to launch SUNMO I knew I wanted to make it a purpose-led brand. Knowing the difficult situation that every orphaned Nigerian child may go through it has always been in my heart to help them.

What does your heritage mean to you and what lessons have you taken from it?

I’ve taken everything from my heritage and put it into the SUNMO brand. Being of Nigerian heritage, the name SUNMO is actually a Yoruba word meaning “to bring people together” and that is true to SUNMO as we are bringing people together with food.

What is your greatest fear and how do you channel it into strength?

As I’m a people’s person my greatest fear initially was the transition from working in the finance industry and leaving the large office environment with a lot of social interaction for working independently as an Entrepreneur. So I channeled it into making sure my business and team grew rapidly over a short period of time.

In your opinion, what is the future of Black-owned businesses here in the UK?

I believe black-owned businesses are growing rapidly in number and profit here in the UK. As more young black people are seeing successful black business owners in fields they are passionate about they are becoming inspired to build their own successful businesses.

I want black-owned businesses to be as large and mainstream as the big names and I see this happening in the near future in the UK. What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs?

My advice for young entrepreneurs is to plan your journey and plan big. When I started SUNMO I knew we needed six-figure investment and I researched exactly how I would get it. So I created financial forecasts and calculated the costs of launching into the large retailers, then made a plan, and carried it out. I also am a strong advocate for living in your purpose so I would also advise making sure your businesses are purpose-led.

What’s next for Victoria and Sunmo Chips?

SUNMO is launching our Crowdfund campaign inviting people to have an investment in SUNMO and be part of the SUNMO community. This means as we grow their investment also grows. To sign up to become an investor you can pre-register using the link in the bio of SUNMO SNACKS Instagram page. For me, what is in store is growing the SUNMO product range, selling in the UK and internationally. Sainsbury’s have already asked us to stock more SUNMO products with them and outside of our Plantain Crisps and Sweet Potato Puffs we are also launching SUNMO Sport with our Protein Nuts range and Lentil Crisps. SUNMO is also growing internationally with retailers in Europe asking to stock us, so there are many exciting things happening that I can’t wait for.

Final words?

My business portfolio is expanding and the SUNMO range is also growing. We are launching SUNMO Sport, SUNMO plant-based drinks, and more SUNMO Snacks. I am looking forward to growing as a leader in the food industry and increasing the number of businesses I run.

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