Why We Serve GARRI Ijebu & Fried Fishes @ Parties – Mrs BISI OMEGWE

•CEO Bissy Yoyo Platter

 

If you have been attending top parties lately, you would have observed that there is a new trend on the menu. One of the appetizers people now demand at parties is garri Ijebu and proteins like fried fish, crabs, prawns, crayfishes and etc. This is because a good number of top Nigerians now find delight in this appetizer before the main courses.

Since about one year ago, Bissy Yoyo Platter has been in high demand and a regular vendor at parties. This event vendor mainly specializes in serving garri Ijebu and proteins at parties. This is headed by Mrs Bisi Omegwe, a professional Town Planner who finds delight in also solving problems at parties. Her passion for satisfying people’s needs made her think through and establish this business.

In the last year, Mrs Omegwe has brought a lot of difference to food supply at parties, she has become a force to reckon with in the party business and the niche she carved for herself has given her a spot previously occupied by just a few in the industry.

One would have thought that serving garri Ijebu to the high and mighty at parties would be an idea that would be dead on arrival, but for this beautiful and highly delectable woman, it was worth the risk because the demand for her brand to be present at parties has become high.

Last week, DAMILARE SALAMI 08155134152 had a chat with her at the 80th birthday party Hajia Montai threw for her dad, Alhaji Sulaimon Elemosho in Lagos. The event was attended by the topmost celebrity men and women in Lagos and Abuja and many of them fell in love with the appetizer served by the Bissy Yoyo Platter girls. Below are excerpts from the interview, enjoy.

 

What do you do at Bissy Yoyo Platter?

We serve seafood and garri ijebu at all kinds of events. We’ve had a lot of events where people call us to come and serve our garri Ijebu and sea foods and they’ve been enjoying it. My girls are very neat, we are always at our best and ensure that we serve our guests well and they like what we do. The feedback we get have been encouraging.

You seemed to have carved a niche for yourself at Owambe. How did serving Garri Ijebu and Yoyo start for you?

I just want to thank God first for giving me the idea. The truth is that most people have what they are doing now but they will still love to have a side hustle so that they can have a multiple flows of income. I just thought about how to change the face of meals at parties. You know that when you go to most parties, what you will have there are the regular foods we eat at home like Amala, Semo, Fried and Jollof Rice, Moimoi and the likes. It just dawned on me to do something with garri because it is a food that many rich people rarely eat at home or would even like to associate with at public functions. However, since we started serving it at parties, we see a lot of people craving it, rushing for it especially those at the upper class of the ladder. Right now, most people prefer to have garri ijebu and seafood to rice at parties because they feel that they can easily grab rice or amala at home but not garri. Then, combining it with sea foods which have a lot of protein makes it a balanced diet. We serve our garri Ijebu with bottled water, ice cube, sugar and milk. This makes it very attractive to a lot of people. It is also a way of quenching people’s thirst.

How long have you been running the business?

It’s almost a year now and I thank God for that.

Within one year, what has the acceptance been like?

I can boldly say that 90 per cent of the guests we serve wherever we go fall in love with it at first sight and they pick our appetizer ahead of the regular foods meant to be served at parties. When we serve it at events, you see people asking for more and that is good feedback for us.

If you were not doing this, what would you have been doing?

Anyway, I am a registered town planner, I am still in the service, I work with the ministry of physical planning and environment. I do this mostly at weekends because I have to be at work on weekdays and it doesn’t have to disturb my career. So I only do this on weekends.

You are a wife, a mother, a career woman, a businesswoman and an entrepreneur. How do you combine all these?

It’s just the grace of God. It’s not easy but God has been very helpful. I thank God because it doesn’t disturb my work and time with my family.

Which event would you say really brought your business to the fore?

I’ve done a lot of events and I can say one. I have worked at Havillah Event Center, Federal Palace Hotel, Balmoral Hall, the Haven, a lot of places that I can’t even remember. So I can’t really pinpoint which is the biggest for me because they have always been big and very successful for us.