Meet Tobi Fletcher - “The Ofada Boy" & the brain behind the three variants of Palm wine....
By Kemi Mobuse - Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Tobi Fletcher popularly called “the Ofada boy” is
not just an Ofada boy by name, it is a representation of his family genealogy.
Tobi is an original indigene from Ofada town, Obafemi Owode Area of Ogun State,
a place famous for the production of local ofada rice.
With his great
grandfather being among the first set of farmer to plant the ofada rice, Tobi
sure has the ofada blood running in him. He is a graduate of Microbiology
from Olabisi Onabanjo University, where he found his passion.
Ofadaboy started at his dad’s funeral in 2009 “I
was the last born and my siblings looked up to me to help them get caterers and
all for the burial. I spoke to my brother that I could run the whole food if
they believed in me”, he just laughed and said “its kuku your father’s burial
it’s what you cook they would eat”. I gave one of my aunts money to get 2 cows
and 2 rams for me, my friends and some support cooks also came in to my rescue
and we cooked for over 1 thousand guests, I was able to also buy most of
the utensils we used and still had some funds left, it was really a great day.
Tobi Fletcher’s first major job came big as he had
to cater for a wedding of over 2 thousand guests. The job became even more
profitable after the client has paid in full after which the mother of the
bride called him a week to the wedding to ask if he needed a cow; as someone had given her one and it was
messing up her compound.
There is no way you would not want a taste of
ofadaboy when you meet them at any party. This is because, Tobi has in every way made food presentation one of
the most important area of his service, and ordinary is the last way you would
describe ofadaboy’s catering services.
Tobi Fletcher is soon going into the production
and packaging of the real ofada rice from the first farmers of ofada rice. He
is also into the supply of palwine at events and at his restaurant. “The
drive for that came, when I used to follow my dad to university of ife in the
90s to see his friends who are theater acts lecturers and renowned actors
(Peter Fatomilola, Uncle Laide, Uncle Jimi Sholanke (story land) and his cousin
who is now a king ; Kabiyesi Segun Akinbola)
etc, they used to sit somewhere then called old buka in the university premises
and I remember my dad always looking forward to going to ife from Lagos just
majorly because of fresh palm wine.
So I had it in mind since then that I was
going to do my best to make fresh newly tapped palwwine always available if and
when I had the opportunity to do so. And that’s how I started that”.
Ofada Boy is the first brand in the world to produce three different
variants of palmwine (palmpine, palmwine and pineapple), palmo (palmwine and
orange), Palma (palmwine and Apple).
Next level for Ofada boy is to go global.
‘‘The only reason basmatic rice has so much popularity is because the whites
promoted it with so much media and internet presence. And they made it sink
somewhere in our brains but I bet you ofada rice is more nourishing and it’s
ready to take over its lost glory. We trying as much to put a zero tolerance to
stones because that’s one of the put off and make it more presentable. I am an
ofada rice ambassador’‘.
You can contact Ofadaboy on:
Instagram: @ofadaboy
Restaurant: #90, adeniran ogunsanya Surulere
(Deliveries☎️07088667382,08038321943
Bookings only )08050504784
More beautiful pictures of his craft below....
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