Taste of culture, heritage

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This article was published 29/03/2024 (577 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With each aisle, Sejiro and Wuraola Giwa aim to provide the comforts of home.

In one section, there are faux braids and Africa’s Best brand hair conditioner. In another, yam and cassava flour. Goat meat and cow feet share a freezer with turkey drumsticks and chicken legs.

There’s plenty of instant noodles.

“It really does fill a gap for the community,” Wuraola said, standing by the cash register of the couple’s store.

She and her husband opened African Varieties Store Inc. in November. It’s among the latest in a growing number of African grocery stores in Manitoba.

“A lot of Africans, as they move here, they get to see what they want, what they have missed back home,” Wuraola explained. “I hope to open more stores, God willing.”

The Nigerian couple noticed a supply “vacuum” when they moved to the Transcona area. They’d commute to St. Anne’s Road, by their former residence, for food items that reminded them of their birthplace.

Plenty of African immigrants live in the Concordia Hospital area and don’t have vehicles, Sejiro said.

But food is a big part of African culture — and as immigrants navigate the changes of moving countries, it’s settling to find familiar food, he said. “You want to remain connected with your own food while you try to experiment (in Canada).”

Sejiro and Wuraola operate their 1100 Concordia Ave. business seven days a week, alongside their other jobs. (Sejiro assists at-risk youth as a community worker.)

African Varieties Store, Sejiro believes, is a way to ensure the local community is growing. He’s a new entrepreneur — this is his first shop — but is confident customer demand will keep increasing.

“The immigration policy is favourable to Africans,” said Sejiro, who arrived in Canada through the provincial nominee program. More Africans means more need for African food, as people want to keep connected to their culture, he said.

The couple hope to open another African Varieties Store in Winnipeg within the next year.

When Zita Somakoko moved to the Manitoba capital around two decades ago, there were few African grocers. Dino’s Grocery Mart was the go-to, the Black-Manitobans Chamber of Commerce president said.

Now, the city contains at least 10 African food stores.

“It’s very encouraging,” Somakoko said. “The accessibility of culturally specific food plays a very key role in the preservation of heritage and the expression of identity.

“For me, African food is kind of like a comfort food.”

Gift Enone opened an African grocery store in Brandon three years ago. Her reasoning parallelled the Giwas’ — her community lacked options.

People would give money to someone driving into Winnipeg, asking “Please, can I give you my list?… I saved them the trouble,” Enone said with a laugh.

Before she opened Sangees African Groceries Shop, she’d also order items from other provinces, Enone said, adding Brandon’s African population appears to have tripled since she arrived in 2015.

In 2021, Manitoba government data listed 27,150 residents with an African birthplace. Five years earlier, the number was 17,975.

Despite the larger African population, specialty grocers still struggle, Enone noted.

She now faces local competition, and it’s hard to find financing.

There are “ups and downs,” she said.

Many entrepreneurs come to Canada expecting Canadians to purchase their African food, Somakoko said. It’s not always the case — some are “hit by the cold shoulder.”

The most successful stores cater to several cultures, Somakoko said. The Black-Manitobans Chamber of Commerce encourages its members (which number at least 100) to “go outside of the box.”

African Varieties has seen a mix of ethnicities enter its doors, Sejiro said. It’s encouraging, he added.

Dorothy Harmon, office manager of African Communities of Manitoba, expressed her support for African-led grocery stores.

“As a newcomer, you come here, you deal with so many different barriers — language barriers, settling in, things like that,” Harmon said. “At the end of the day, you need food to eat.

“Our food is part of our culture. It’s our heritage.”

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com