Meet Abi

For as long as I can remember, cooking has been my way of showing people I care. Some of my happiest memories were made around a full table, with too much food, easy conversation and people who felt at home. Long before Dotch Flavour was a business, it was simply that: a way of looking after the people around me.

In 2008, I decided to build something out of it, and Dotch Flavour was born.

I was building a career at the same time. I'd studied Economics before qualifying as a PRINCE2 project manager, and I spent years running projects that lived or died on planning, attention to detail and consistent delivery. Food and project management look like two separate worlds. Over time I've found they teach the same lessons.

A project doesn't come together by luck. It takes planning, a clear standard, consistency and a real understanding of the people you're serving. Building a food business, it turns out, is no different.

That thinking runs through everything at Dotch Flavour, from how we choose ingredients and refine a recipe to the systems that mean your meal tastes the same every time you order it. My career taught me to care about excellence, and I've never seen why flavour and excellence should be a trade-off.

As the business grew in Nigeria, so did what I wanted from it. I wanted to bring the taste of home to Nigerians in the UK, and to introduce West African cooking to people trying it for the first time. That has been some of the most rewarding work I've done, and it still shapes every decision we make.

Our newest chapter, Ready Soups, came straight from our customers.

Life is busier than ever, but the craving for proper home-cooked food hasn't gone anywhere. I wanted to give people the comfort of a freshly made Nigerian meal without the hours at the stove. Every soup is cooked from scratch, using the same recipes and ingredients we've always used, then frozen carefully so the flavour is still there when you're ready for it.

Ready Soups isn't just a new product to me. It's the same thing Dotch Flavour has always tried to do: make good food easier to get to, without cutting a single corner on quality.

Every meal we make carries a bit of my story in it, my heritage and my working life both. Food is still, to me, one of the truest ways we look after each other.

Thank you for making room for Dotch Flavour in your home. I hope what we cook finds its way into good memories of yours.