Bronzeville resident Boyede Sobitan created OjaExpress with co-founder Fola Dada after he grew tired of traveling back and forth from the South Side to the North Side of Chicago for ingredients to cook Nigerian food. He soon found out that his group of friends and family had similar issues with finding African and Caribbean groceries conveniently. Out of frustration grew innovation, and he decided OjaExpress was the answer to everyone’s problems.
OjaExpress is a delivery service that brings African and Caribbean food together under one centralized place through their app. Customers can find fresh meat, vegetables and staple seasonings that they usually cannot find in larger chain grocery stores in Chicago. The app also eliminates the access issue for foodies interested in cooking African and Caribbean dishes, taking them out of the restaurant and into their homes with quality and carefully picked ingredients.
Using the app is simple and functions like Peapod or Instacart. Customers can search and add items to their cart, then place their order and receive a delivery notification. An added benefit of OjaExpress is its technological contributions by modernizing mom and pop grocery stores and getting their products online to larger audiences.
Sobitan and Dada’s business model is built on providing the best price and offers and an assortment of food to customers and they do this through their “sprinters,” who are trained to understand how to pick out the right groceries and produce to ensure the highest quality is delivered to customers. The also lean on a diverse team and client base that keep them aware of what they can improve.
The plan for OjaExpress is to expand to other major cities and make the app intuitive by allowing users to search by African and Caribbean region, making shopping even easier. Download the the OjaExpress app and checkout more information on OjaExpress’ website and by following the company’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts.