Oya Food, a growing agro business offering great nutritional value in Nigeria, is set to launch Beaver Rice to boost access to fortified and micronutrient food across the country.
Beaver Rice affords Nigerians with a wide range of nutritious rice products available at Oya Food retail stores countrywide.
This comes following the fact that Nigerians suffer from micronutrient malnutrition — a factor that substantially contributes to the global burden of stunted growth among other diseases.
According to the Founder and CEO, Oya Food, Chidiadi Madumere, when rice is milled, it loses about 60 per cent of Iron, 90 per cent of Vitamin A, 80 per cent of Vitamin B6.
“It also loses 67 per cent of Vitamin B1, 67 per cent of Vitamin B3, and Vitamin A deficiency contributes to the deaths of two to three million children annually.
“Research also shows that iron deficiency saps the energy and active learning capacity of Nigerians and lack of folic acid during the first days of pregnancy causes over 200,000 severe birth defects.”
Madumere further acknowledged that Zinc deficiency affects the growth and immune system functioning of hundreds of thousands.
In particular, she cautioned that it leads to longer and more severe bouts of diarrhoea in children. Thiamine deficiency quietly continues to affect populations primarily consuming diets of polished rice.
She added: “To enhance the nutritional values in children and women especially, our staple food brings amazing taste and micronutrients values to all.”
Listing its components, the MD of Beaver Rice, Joshua Scott Fawcett, said that Beaver Rice comes in three product categories including Beaver Rice Organic Brown, Beaver Rice Premium Gold, and Beaver Rice Fortified Premium Gold.
“Beaver Rice Organic Brown is the Nigerian local brown rice, organically grown using sustainable farming methods. All the rice grains have an intact germ, endosperm, bran layer and packed with micronutrients including folate, Vitamin B2, potassium, calcium, and manganese. It also comes in various colours of brown,” says Scott.
According to the MD, 1 kg of Beaver rice Fortified Premium Gold is fortified with micronutrients including iron (28 mg-42.5 mg), folic acid (75-125 microgram), and vitamin B-12 (0.75-1.25 microgram).
It also contains Zinc (10 mg-15 mg), vitamin A (500-750 microgram RE), vitamin B-1 (1 mg-1.5 mg), vitamin B-2 (1.25 mg-1.75 mg), vitamin B-3 (12.5 mg-20 mg) and vitamin B-6 (1.5 mg-2.5 mg).
“When cooked”, he assured newsmen, “Beaver rice Fortified Premium Gold has the same taste, colour, and texture as the unfortified Beaver rice Premium Gold. Beaver Rice Premium products are stone-free, gluten free, chemical free, non-sticky, easy to cook, premium parboiled and golden standard.”
Indeed, Oya Food products are made from some of Nigeria’s finest and home-grown raw food materials. Accordingly, Fawcett noted that their activities focus on sourcing raw food commodities directly from local female farmers, packing and packaging, transportation, construction of retail outlets and advertising.
He further acknowledged that they source, package, market and distribute their branded packaged foods to thousands of Nigerian families and consumers across multiple markets locally and worldwide.
With a wide and growing network of farmers, suppliers, wholesalers and Local Buying Agents (LBAs), he upholds that Oya Food has a strong heritage in agricultural marketing in Nigeria.
This is as the firm continues to forge close ties with supermarkets, digital commerce partners, retailers, and active distributors — to help secure their ongoing loyalty to our packaged product brand.
He highlighted: “We adapt to evolving market conditions, emerging consumer trends and a changing environment.
“We increasingly leverage our network and expertise to process and transform our crops and invest in the future of food, seeking innovation and sustainability,” emphasising that the firm is also open to investors from all over the world.
