A Chicago startup is looking to spice up the frozen food aisle with its West African dishes that are launching in thousands of grocery stores across the country.
AYO Foods, founded by husband and wife team Perteet and Fred Spencer, is creating a line of West African cuisine that shoppers can find in their grocery freezer. Founded just two years ago and officially launched during the summer of 2020, AYO's dishes are now in 4,000 stores across the country at places like Whole Foods, Target, Kroger and Safeway. The startup's revenue has grown 850% this year, and it expects to do more than $5 million in sales in 2022 as it launches in more stores.
Its meals include items like Jollof Rice, Chicken Yassa and Puff Puff a sweet, yeast-based dough that's lightly fried.
AYO is catching on with consumers who grew up on West African cuisine, as well as those looking to expand at-home dinner options, Perteet said.
"One of the reasons we launched AYO was there's such a gap in [African] flavors in mainstream grocery," said Perteet, whose family is from Liberia. "Africa is the second-largest continent in the world but doesn’t have any presence in mainstream grocery ... We’re excited to be able to introduce people to the flavors of West Africa."
The startup's growth was aided by a $1.5 million seed round this year from Cleveland Avenue, a Chicago VC firm led by former McDonald's CEO Don Thompson that's investing in Black, Latino and women founders through its $70 million CAST US fund. Supply Change Capital, a new VC firm led by a former executive at Chicago-based Farmer's Fridge, also invested in the round.
Being a husband and wife team has come with its benefits and challenges, the Spencers said, especially when it comes to separating work from home life. While pitching AYO, the two said they occasionally heard from investors who were wary of backing a startup led by a married couple.
"We’ve had folks say early on, 'oh a husband and wife team? That's scary.' But we think it's actually a tremendous asset for us because we’re both so implicitly invested and have these interesting, complementary skill sets," Perteet said.
"We genuinely like being with each other," Fred added.
The couple met at DePaul University, moved to the Twin Cities to get their MBAs from the University of Minnesota, and relocated back to Chicago. Perteet has a CPG background with stints at General Mills, TreeHouse Foods and SPINS, while Fred's background includes three years as a senior financial analyst at Best Buy.
This year AYO, which means "joy" in Yoruba, a language spoken in West Africa, partnered with former Top Chef Eric Adjepong to create its Chicken Yassa meal and its Adjepong's Waakye, a beans and rice dish. The startup also has expanded outside the freezer aisle with a line of hot sauces. AYO plans to continue expanding its product portfolio, finding more ways to bring West African flavors to Americans' dinner tables.
"AYO hits that sweet spot of fresh, curated flavors but within the comfort of your home," Perteet said.
