Our Story

Born in the UK as the youngest of seven children, from an early age Chika was inspired by her African family who loved to cook and create recipes using unique African ingredients.

Africa is at the heart of her family, with every holiday spent in Nigeria immersed in the culture and food. The young Chika fell in love with the sights, smells and sounds. In particular, traditional street food made by local women to snack on, including “dodo” fried plantain, roasted yam and toasted “epa” peanuts.

Her formative experiences of Africa growing up inspired the creation of CHIKA’S delicious treats.  

Our Quality

CHIKA’S range embodies the energy and vibrancy of Africa, every product in CHIKA’S range has a story inspired by our heritage. However, our African roots go deeper, we source unique ingredients from across the continent. To illustrate, this is the story behind two of our products:

In Nigeria we have a variety of peanuts called ‘Epa’ nuts, they are a smaller, more intense variety of peanut. The secret to making CHIKA’S peanuts so intense, rich and creamy is their freshness and purity, CHIKA’S peanuts arrive to market in as little as four weeks with nothing added and only 1% salt.

CHIKA’S works directly with communities who grow Epa, the three-step process that turns them into CHIKA’S hand-toasted peanuts has been tweaked and refined over generations. Firstly, Epa nuts are harvested fresh, shelled and then a lightly salted water solution is sprinkled over them. Secondly, they’re dried in the sun, so the salt marinades the nut. Finally, they are toasted over an open flame in the pan. They are prepared entirely by hand.

Motivation

CHIKA’S range embodies the energy and vibrancy of Africa, every product in CHIKA’S has a story inspired by our heritage. Whilst we are a British company, we remain committed to giving back to communities which inspire us, in 2019 we launch Snacks4Change partnership with World Vision – Empowering girls. An initiative that supports girls through education, enabling them to get the best start in life.

CHIKA’S donates 2% of profits because we believe in the power of education.

Today, 31 million girls are out of school. And every 7 seconds a girl is married. We are helping to change that. Because ‘Education is the key to unlocking girls’ potential and creating brighter futures for not just themselves, but also their families and for future generations’ – World Vision 2019.