Albert Osei: The undisputed king of Ghanaian breakfast
Imagine this situation if you are a parent: After many years of studying to get an MSc in Finance, your son gets a great job in an established UK bank. Great, you think. My job is done.
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Then, after only a few years at the bank, your son suddenly gives it all up to start selling homemade porridge on the streets of Accra. Not so good, maybe.
But that is the real life story of Albert Osei, who started his own business selling ‘hausa koko’ just like this. Koko King is now a household brand in the capital city and its popularity is growing fast.
Thanks to the influence of his mother, herself something of an entrepreneur, Osei says that he always knew he would end up running his own business. However, he probably never imagined he would make his fortune from hausa koko (HAUSA porridge), the most simple and humble of Ghanaian meals.
Childhood love for koko
Osei’s love for Hausa koko began years ago with the almost daily ritual of walking from his house to the roadside to buy it for breakfast. Like many people, he was sometimes appalled by the less than hygienic conditions in which the koko was served; flies and other insects flying freely around, often barely a few yards from one of the city’s major open sewers.
It didn’t take a genius to realise there might be an opportunity to produce, package and sell koko under more sanitary conditions. It just goes to show that a business idea need not be outstanding, complex or even original to prove successful. This is another proof that for an idea to power a successful business, it needs not be original, outstanding or complicated. What matters is the execution – and Osei has given us an exemplary demonstration.
Speaking to my students at GIMPA in 2013, Osei admitted: “I am sure a lot of people must have thought of the idea. The only difference between me and those others is that I was the one who made the move and started it.”
Osei began small and has built his business organically. But he always held onto the dream of developing his street-side enterprise into a major indigenous food brand to rival the likes of Nestle and Fan Milk. “I had a 10-year plan from the beginning to grow and develop the brand and after a while move to other things,” he explains.
Understanding the market
Like all good brand architects, Osei started with the determination to comprehend both the market and his consumer base. He spent the first eight months researching ingredients, road testing packaging and recipes, speaking to potential customers and suppliers and trying to understand the drivers of the market.
He recalls endless hours in Agbogbloshie (Accra’s largest outdoor fruit and vegetable market) hanging out with market traders, female porters and truck pushers who provided him invaluable insights into the local supply chain and gave him access to some of the finest maize and millet our farmers produce.
This social capital and hands-on education proved extremely useful. “You have the best of both worlds when you are educated and humble,” he says. “I can sit down with the market queens and the corn queens who will tell me about corn prices in Nandom and if the yam has arrived from Techiman.”
The first and successful attempt
It is noteworthy that Osei’s first cook was from Nandema, home of the authentic Hausa koko.
One morning in 2008, Osei packed 20 cups of his koko into an ice-chest and travelled by taxi to Millicom’s head office to sell the product himself.
“It did cross my mind that some of my friends might see me and laugh at me,” he confesses.
But potential embarrassment did not deter him. Neither did the initial monthly gross proceeds of GHc400.
Looking back, Osei believes that starting small and growing organically has been key. It provided him an opportunity to correct and refine his business ideas while the stakes were smaller. “If I had started with a significant sum, say GH₵100,000, the business might be bust by now. We would have made too many costly mistakes.”
His parents’ love and support has also been crucial. An early loan of GH₵1,000 from mum and dad paid for packaging that keeps food fresh and hot for over 12 hours.
Today, Osei is a significant force in Ghana’s food and beverage industry. He has won a number of prestigious awards and accolades and been featured on BBC TV. He employs over 200 people, serves 5,000 cups of hot porridge a day and has recently expanded into bulk catering and corporate hospitality.
Seven years into his 10-year plan, Osei has built a trusted indigenous brand and become the undisputed king of the Ghanaian breakfast.
He is more fulfilled than he ever was as a banker – now touching lives, making a real impact and improving breakfast for all of us.
Hopefully, other parents will take note.