Funmi Osineye: Food Connects People, Creates Meaningful Moments

Maggi’s Category and Marketing Manager, Nestle Nigeria, Funmi Osineye, speaks about how Maggi culinary brings fresh tastes to consumers, among others. Charles Ajunwa brings excerpts

Your campaign tagged ‘Me and Madi’, what’s it all about? 

The culinary space is really evolving and food today is no longer just about cooking. It’s really about your expression, your vibe, your creativity. A lot of times now people don’t just get food and eat. They do a lot of things around food today and one simple one is that you get to a restaurant, you do a fine dining, they bring your food. What’s the first thing that you do with that food? You take a picture. You admire it. Even before you start eating, you’re just like, wow, I love the creativity. I love this plating. I love the way the food comes together. The way the chefs, the restaurants and everybody is going about food now, it’s now like an infusion of modernity, even to the old food that we all know and grew up with.

You see some dishes today and you’ll be like, wow, I didn’t know this can be transformed into a very interesting one. So today when we look at the young generation, they don’t just eat the food, they create content around it.

They remix, they share and they talk about when they were growing up, how it used to be and what it is now. They bring some form of modernity into it. So Gen Z has really turned food into a culture. It’s now a movement. It’s no longer about food.

For Maggi, we’ve always been there. This year Maggi is going to be 60 years in Nigeria.This is a heritage brand, a brand that is rooted in culture. When you’re talking about the history of Nigeria, you cannot complete it without mentioning Maggi, which is why even when you look at the seasoning segments in the market today, our brand is what dominates. A lot of times when you want to buy seasoning, they will say I want to buy Maggi. It’s when you get to the retailer’s table that they will now say which Maggi do you want to buy? And they now mention specifically which Maggi.

So we’ve always been there from our parents’ kitchen to our own quick meals and to now becoming part of trends and everyday creativity. We started something nice during Christmas last year, the Maggi Christmas campaign. We’ve been bringing that creativity and we’re telling that new story. 

What informed your choice of Qing Madi? 

You see, Maggi is an iconic brand and Madi is an iconic star. What a better way to collaborate with somebody that is an iconic brand as well. She’s a trusted voice for a new generation. She’s shared values around creativity and culture. During the last International Women’s Day, she shared her insights and point of view on why women’s voices have to be heard in the community and in Nigeria at large. She’s really a mutually beneficiary partner. Honestly, when you look at her, who better fits that profile naturally than Madi? She’s already a member of the family, coming from Christmas and now the new face of Maggi in Nigeria. We’re not just unveiling Madi, but we’re unveiling something even bigger, more than what we’re doing today. Not just signing on, we started a new campaign and we felt that we need a face behind that campaign to really bring the fusion, the food and the music together. Today, it is ‘Maggi and Madi so good together’. We’re looking at something purposeful and unique. Maggi is a global brand, it’s not just a made-in-Nigeria brand. Globally, we’re more than 100 years. It’s not just a brand that is in Nigeria. It’s in Central West Africa, it’s in Europe, it’s worldwide. It’s something that started from 1866. 

So it’s a product that has come far, and it’s really a benchmark for culinary. Today, when you talk about seasoning in the markets, Maggi is actually the benchmark. For us, we believe that there’s nothing more awesome than tasty food that creates that great connection. Today, food is not just about eating. Food is about bringing people, loved ones, friends together, sharing those moments, sharing those foods, sharing those tastes. This is our belief as a brand. Our purpose, of course, is to help everyone create delicious, awesome meals, moments that meaningfully connect some people together. What connects people more than food? So food is really the connector that connects everybody. Maggi is the brand behind that purpose.