Tasty African Food

About Tasty African Food

Michael and Abi Olaleye founded African Tasty Food in 2000 in Woolwich, south east London. The business started out as the Nigerian couple cooking in their church kitchen as volunteers, preparing hearty African meals after Sunday service. Their egusi soup, jollof rice and suya quickly became a weekly highlight for congregation members. “People used to tell us, you should open your own place,” Abi said. “At first, we thought it was just kindness - until the orders started coming in outside church hours.” In 1999, the Olaleyes left stable jobs in IT and teaching to open their first restaurant, and they now run 27 sites across the capital and Kent. Of these, 12 are franchises, and Michael plans to use the franchise model to expand outside London, which he said is becoming “saturated”, to Birmingham, other cities in the Midlands and Scotland. Tasty African Food also makes ready meals that are sold in Sainsbury’s and through its own site, does event catering for weddings and parties, and has an app where customers can order food as an alternative to apps such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats, where it is also listed. The company has two divisions, one which runs the factory in Thamesmead, south east London, making the food and also managing the franchises, and the other running the company-owned restaurants. In August 2025, the Olaleyes set a target of 100 sites in five years’ time

Why franchise with Tasty African Food

• ✓The company said: “You will need to have a minimum of 60,000 at the start of the franchise process. We offer Classic and Millennial style franchise models. Join the Tasty African Food family and become part of a growing brand known for authentic cuisine, warm hospitality, and vibrant culture. Our franchise programme offers full support from training and setup to ongoing operations, so you can focus on delighting your customers.”