ReelFruit Nigeria has grown from a small Lagos apartment to a major dried fruit exporter. Founder Affiong Williams started the company in 2012 with imported products and a simple goal: introduce Nigerians to dried fruit snacks.
Funding journey
- Williams struggled for years to raise enough capital to build a factory.
- Between 2012 and 2021, she pitched about 200 times, often raising less than $100,000 for small expansions.
- In 2021, ReelFruit secured $3 million from Alitheia IDF, Samata Capital, and Flying Doctor Healthcare Investment Company.
Factory milestone
- The new large-scale facility opened in Abeokuta in 2024.
- It allows mass production of dried mango, pineapple, coconut chips, and fruit-nut mixes.
- The factory created hundreds of jobs and positioned ReelFruit to serve local and international markets.
Sourcing challenges
- ReelFruit buys mainly from small-scale Nigerian farmers through aggregators.
- Strict quality standards require direct relationships with growers.
- Field agents monitor farms and ensure compliance with export regulations, including pesticide restrictions.
International expansion
- Export deals include two European distributors and a major US retail group.
- By earning dollars, ReelFruit offsets Nigeria’s high inflation and a naira that lost half its value from 2023 to 2025.
- Overseas sales now include branded snacks and bulk dried fruit for industrial buyers.
Williams believes Nigeria’s young population and rising global shipping costs strengthen the case for local manufacturing. She sees long-term opportunities to make “Made in Nigeria” a global standard in food production.
