By Tony Adibe
Pretty Nollywood Actress, Miss Chinelo Rosemary Enemchukwu a.k.a Ifedichie has said that her choice as the Brand Ambassador of ‘Jigbo African instant salad’ is a decision Mitchelle Foods Enterprise Limited would never regret as she is determined to spread the message of the new product to all corners of the world.
Actress Enemchukwu, who spoke to newsmen while the company formally unveiled her as its Brand Ambassador at a colourful event on Monday night in Enugu, expressed delight for her choice, describing it as a “blessing and honour,” and pledged to live up to expectation.
NewsBits reports that the Enugu-based Mitchelle Foods Enterprise Ltd is an indigenous company that produces the first ever known jigbo instant African Salad, a natural delicacy made from cassava.
“I’m really grateful, and happy to God for being part of this family. Being a brand Ambassador is not easy. The company has to go through a whole lot of processes. So, it’s really an honour for them to choose me as their brand Ambassador.
“I feel happy. I feel blessed. I hope and believe that this would move each and every one of us to the next level,” said Enemchukwu, who advised Nigerians and Africans to accept the product due to its zero-preservation status.
With a warm smile that revealed a set of white teeth, as she placed the contract file on her chest as if it was so dear to her, the actress also said: “Jigbo is organic. That is one of the things I would like the people to understand. Jigbo represents who we are. If you eat jigbo, you will understand that it’s not anyhow food; it is what you eat and feel refreshed. You eat jigbo and you have this sense of satisfaction; sense of hope; and you would realize that this is a meal similar to the natural food prepared by our grandma. Jigbo is good for the Whites. It is good for the Blacks. It is good for babies. In fact, jigbo goes beyond boundaries. It is an African salad, and you eat it and love it.”
In a presentation, a health expert, Dr Franca Makwe highlighted some health benefits of cassava products in the human body, noting that it contains a lot of vitamins which build the body system.
Dr Makwe said the local noodle has been prepared in a way which gives the consumers all the necessary nutrients, adding that the product “is a highly nutritious food that is good for the body enzymes, it is rich in potassium high fibre content and very rich in vitamins and minerals.”
However, the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Kingsley Okah in his remark, explained that the company engaged the Nollywood actress for her to help in “driving the marketing and spreading the good news” of the two-months old product, which he said , is quoted in the American Chamber of Commerce.
Explaining the reason his company chose the actress as its brand Ambassador, Okah said: “Chinelo is like John the Baptist. She is to carry the message about jigbo African instant salad to the world, to the people, among her peers so that when people who watch her movies and films, watch her films, they would be able to associate her quality of character, personality to the brand.”
Okah further explained that as a new product, in this digital age, we also need people who have the representation of what the word jigbo African salad means which is the rich cultural heritage of our people; marketing it to the world.
“In our choice of Chinelo, it’s simply because she represents that idol that covers our interest when we talk about someone who has distinguished herself in the acting and film industry. If you watch most of her movies, you understand that they focus on stories about family, togetherness, unity, oneness, where joy is always being shared. That is why we decided to go into an alliance with her and today we’re happy that it is happening.”
He said that presently several regulatory agencies both within and outside Nigeria had given approvals to his company for the manufacture of Jigbo African instant salad. Such agencies included the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the National Agency for Food And Drugs Administrations (NAFDAC), and the Food And Drug Administration (FADA) in the United States of America. He added that jigbo is quoted in the American Chamber of Commerce. “So I can tell you it has a global appeal. And it has been accepted and it has come to stay,” said Okah, who disclosed that he studied law and practiced it before going into real estate and later moved into food manufacture.
He said that Jigbo has high content of vitamins and minerals that keep the consumer healthy. “Most importantly, it is 100% organic; it has no preservatives, and it’s something you can keep as long as you want,” said Okoh, who quickly added: “The fact is that jigbo African salad has been in the market and is doing very well. A product that is only two months old in the market but as at today, is in America, the UK, Ghana and is in six states in Nigeria.
“So far so good, I can tell you that we have done over 3000 cartoons. We are young but the appeal is massive. Beyond what we have now as brand Ambassador of jigbo, we target making jigbo a global brand. Jigbo, as I said earlier, is now part of the American Chamber of Commerce. We are doing other products, one of them is why we are here too, which is our spices called Richecho. Richicho unites family; makes you so happy that you would mind hugging your enemy. It makes you happier than you are.
“One good message we want to pass to consumers is: enough of dying of cancer; enough of people dying of preservatives used in keeping food and it’s time we go back to our roots, the natural foods.”
Okah further said: “This is our own. We want to tell people that when they eat jigbo instant African salad, which can be prepared within three minutes, they will be healthy, strong, energetic and enjoy good health benefits because of its nutrients.
“By this we are also promoting a made in Nigeria product which is equally very important. Our intention is to see that we introduce our own local noodle to parts of the world, just like some countries always flood Nigeria with their own products.”
