When Eka Obaigbena launched Toasties in Lagos in 2016, the idea was simple: convenient food with flavours people already knew and loved. Asun, shaki, and other familiar favourites found their way into toasted sandwiches, giving the fast-casual brand a distinctly its-own identity.
Behind the idea was serious culinary experience. Eka trained at the French Culinary Institute and worked in Michelin-starred kitchens in New York and Madrid before bringing that knowledge into a very different kind of food business. Today, Toasties has three outlets in Lagos, with a menu that has expanded to include salads, bowls and African coffee, as well as delivery, takeaway and corporate catering.
Along the way came Board, created during the COVID-19 lockdown as a cloud kitchen and now a brand with its own physical store.
As Toasties celebrates its 10th anniversary, Eka is already looking ahead, with international expansion part of the plan. In this interview, she reflects on the last decade, how Lagos’ food culture has changed, the realities of building a restaurant business, and where she wants to take Toasties next.
Toasties is 10 this year. When you think back to September 2016, what did you set out to create, and has the business turned out the way you imagined?
Back in 2016, the Lagos food scene was very different from what it is today. Dining out was largely reserved for family outings or special occasions, and there were limited casual options. I found it odd that even something as ubiquitous as a sandwich hadn’t evolved beyond the classic club sandwich. I wanted to introduce Nigerians to a whole new way of enjoying sandwiches. Ten years later, I can proudly say we’ve achieved what we set out to do. We’ve built a fiercely loyal community and consistently served some of the best, most innovative sandwiches in town.
You trained at the French Culinary Institute and worked in Michelin-starred kitchens in New York and Madrid. Why did you decide to come back to Lagos and build something as simple and accessible as a sandwich brand?
At the time, I felt it was unfortunate how limited our casual dining scene was. While my culinary background was rooted in fine dining, I found it strange that in a market as massive as Lagos, you couldn’t get something as elementary as a great sandwich (aside from the club sandwich—that’s always been a good staple!). I also saw that the few existing restaurants charged an arm and a leg for subpar ingredients—though I later got a rude awakening about the hidden overhead costs of running a business in Nigeria. I set out to create affordable, high-quality meals. I initially hoped I could sell sandwiches for as low as ₦500. Let’s just say I had a lot to learn about local unit economics.
Before Toasties, there was BiscuitBoneBlog. How much did experimenting with food back then influence the flavours and menu you eventually created for Toasties?
The blog provided the foundational building blocks for Toasties. I used to experiment with global cuisines and give them a distinct African twist. In fact, our very first toastie was birthed from a recipe on that blog—our Shaki Toastie. It was inspired by a Heston Blumenthal episode where he made a sandwich using offal. I decided to try creating a toastie using shaki and agege bread, and the rest is history!
Putting things like asun and shaki into toasted sandwiches was quite unusual when Toasties started. How did you know Nigerians would embrace that mix of familiar flavours in a different format?
I didn’t know for sure at first, but in a test kitchen, there are certain creations you just can’t stop eating. I was already passionate about fusing African flavours into unconventional formats. Our Shaki and Asun toasties received such overwhelming praise from early taste-testers that including them on the menu was a no-brainer. I was also determined to source as many ingredients locally as possible, which led to another crowd favourite: our Prawn & Pesto toastie. That sandwich really propelled the brand. Not only did it become our most copied menu item, but people also started treating it as an established classic, right alongside a Club Sandwich or a Patty Melt.
What did you notice was missing from Lagos’ food scene when you started Toasties, and do you think that gap still exists today?
A decade ago, there were major gaps in quality, consistency, and basic health and safety standards across casual dining. Today, the industry is significantly more professional. Food safety standards are higher, and increased competition has brought incredible variety. While there is still work to be done, particularly in local supply chain management, ingredient sourcing, and inventory control, the tools and infrastructure to succeed are far more accessible now than when we started.
The Lagos food scene has changed enormously in the last 10 years. What do you think today’s customer wants that they did not necessarily care about when you started?
I’ll break this into two segments. Consumers spending over ₦7500 on a meal care a lot about the aesthetic and branding of the food establishment they patronise. Whether it’s the ambience of the restaurant or the packaging the food is delivered in, aesthetics are more important than they have ever been before for this segment, particularly in a city like Lagos. This wasn’t as important a decade ago, simply because the options we see today didn’t exist. When spending under ₦7500, however, value for money is the bigger driver. This is something that has always been important, particularly in a macroeconomic climate like Nigeria.
Restaurants are notoriously difficult businesses to run, especially in Nigeria. What has been the hardest part of keeping Toasties going and growing for a decade?
Hands down, talent retention and financial management. Navigating hyperinflation, skyrocketing power costs, and FX instability while trying to attract and retain top talent requires constant agility. Learning how to build corporate governance and operational structures in such a volatile market was a steep learning curve, but those expensive lessons ultimately built up our resilience.
Toasties now has three Lagos outlets as well as delivery, takeaway and corporate catering. As the business has grown, how have you made sure the food and experience still feel consistent?
It requires relentless discipline around training and inventory management. You cannot scale consistency without strict checks and balances, standardised SOPs, and an internal team dedicated solely to operational audits.
Board was born during COVID, when restaurants were closed, and has since grown from a cloud kitchen into a physical store. At what point did you realise it could become a serious business of its own?
Board took off remarkably fast. During our very first Christmas season, we were so overwhelmed with orders that we had to stop taking new requests midway through the holiday rush. That was the moment I realised we had built a standalone brand with massive potential.
Toasties received investment from Aruwa Capital Management. What changed once you brought outside investors into the business, and what did that process teach you as a founder?
Partnering with Aruwa Capital brought a transformative level of structure and strategic clarity to our operations. We transitioned from high-level goals to granular, trackable KPIs broken down into annual, monthly, and daily targets. The capital injection allowed us to expand our footprint, optimise our supply chain, and make critical executive hires. As a founder, my biggest takeaway has been learning how crucial institutional governance and financial discipline are to long-term sustainability.
With food prices and operating costs constantly rising, how do you keep your meals affordable without cutting corners on ingredients or quality?
We always aim to bypass middle-tier distributors wherever possible to source directly from primary manufacturers and large-scale agricultural suppliers. Quality is our core promise—it’s the reason customers have returned to us weekly for ten years. We also track our inventory lifecycles and try to prioritise automated stock reporting to eliminate food waste and protect our margins.
You have spoken about expanding internationally. When you imagine Toasties five or 10 years from now, how big do you want the brand to become, and what would you like it to be known for beyond Nigeria?
We are building the premier global hub for pan-African flavours, delivered through a fast-casual, grab-and-go format. Our mission is twofold: to introduce global audiences to the incredible depth of African culinary heritage, and to connect Africans across the continent through our shared food culture. As we expand internationally, we want Toasties to be recognised as a true cultural ambassador for African gastronomy worldwide.
