When Eskor “Beko” Mbeko-Edem was studying to become a chef at Humber College, he didn’t see Black representation among chefs in the industry and quickly pivoted to start his own business.

So, following graduation in 2010, he dug deep, channelled his Nigerian roots, and eventually created Beko Foods Inc., a hot sauce company born out of a desire to bring unique flavours to Canada’s culinary scene.

“I made this pepper stew, and it was too hot, so I remixed it and sold seven portions for $14. I was convinced that I had something because of the people’s reaction,” Mbeko-Edem told Black Dollar Magazine. “In Nigeria, we do many tomato-based foods, with stew and rice. And so, I decided to take that whole concept and turn it into a hot sauce. From there, we developed our original sauce, which is mixed with tomato, scotch bonnet, and other ingredients, and we made one with crayfish and other Nigerian flavours.”

These days, you can catch him at community activations across the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area, where he’s introducing his products to audiences province-wide.

Beko Foods will be at Honey Soul Food on Saturday, July 22, for its third annual summer party. The cookout will include music, BBQ and vendor markets in Mississauga.

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Connecting with customers is something Mbeko-Edem takes great pride in. His commitment to service is something he said will help the business grow to become a six-figure business.

“We’re going and knocking on doors, and we look to have unique relationships with our partners, using their content and our content to leverage on social media, creating interesting reels. Also, we focus on providing exceptional service, especially in our community, and that’s how we plan to push our business forward over the next five years,” Mbeko-Edem said.

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Starting the company in 2017, he began running the business full-time in 2019. Over that time, Mbeko-Edem has cultivated relationships with customers and suppliers, creating social media content to grow the brand.

Beko Foods' hot sauces range from $15 to $20. You can also buy bundle packages that come with chips in different flavours. This year, he said he’s targeting sales upwards of $100,000.

The company’s products are available online and at several retailers, including Sanagan’s Meat Locker, Cordi’s Italian Bakery, Taste of Lagos Nigerian Restaurant, The Moonshine Café and Rainhard Brewing.

Mbeko-Edem identified Hamilton and Toronto as key markets but hopes to expand to other provinces soon.

He added that he is looking to collaborate with a cookie company to create a hot chocolate chip treat and aims to secure more retail and wholesale partners. He also said the product works well with funnel cakes, fruits, and chips.

“By the end of the year, we want to have one major partnership and continue to grow,” Mbeko-Edem said.