We’ll export kilishi soon – Suya seller

In the course of this encounter, he told our reporter about their plans to start exporting some lines of their products soon. He said the suya business is supposed to be of international standard due to the high demand amongst Nigerians in the Diaspora and those who travel frequently. “This business is so unique hence […]

In the course of this encounter, he told our reporter about their plans to start exporting some lines of their products soon. He said the suya business is supposed to be of international standard due to the high demand amongst Nigerians in the Diaspora and those who travel frequently.

“This business is so unique hence it has created a high patronage level. There are people who travel abroad to the USA, the UK, Saudi Arabia and other places around the world with packages of our dry meat. This meat is another line of our product; it is well-dried and packaged neatly. It is known as ‘kilishi’ in Hausa.

“Some Nigerians who travel widely and have their families, friends and relatives abroad have sold the idea of us exporting our products. On our part, we have analysed the business proposal and idea and would soon commence the operations,” he said.

Bala mai nama further told Weekly Trust that he has been a butcher right from childhood, but that some of the modern techniques involved in the business were learned on the job. He mentioned the polished barbeque techniques as grilling, spicing, burger-dolling, amongst others. He said all these are suya-making techniques that need some form of training. The training could be through some professional caterers or some suya veterans, he said.

“If this meat is well-prepared, people would always come and ask for it. We have had instances where some people abandoned their trip to America because the kilishi they ordered for was not ready,” he said.

On their mode of business operation, he said their boss buys   animals from farms in bulk and slaughter them gradually. “We have contacts with some farms in faraway Kano, Katsina and Kaduna states.”

He told Weekly Trust that their customers cut across all social classes and age groups. “There are those top class people who send some of these packaged dry meats abroad, probably to friends and families. There is another class of customers who come to our suya spot with their families to eat and take some away. Another category are those who just come, buy and go to their relaxation spots to have a feel of the real roasted chicken/meat or kilishi products,” he said.

According to Bala, “Contrary to popular belief that the majority of our customers are from Northern extraction, all ethnic groups in Nigeria patronise our products. In fact, permit me to say that the Igbo make the majority of my customers,” he said.

He said at the moment, the kilishi is prepared in Kano before being brought to Abuja for proper packaging and supplies. “Here in Abuja, the competition is not so stiff; the demand for dry meat is high and very impressive. Ours is well-prepared and that is what informed the demand rate.”

He said their patronage has very little or even no relationship with seasons. “Is there a season for eating meat or for not eating it? Now, sallah is around the corner and Christmas is coming up afterwards. These seasons do not have any significant changes on the market patronage. Some people believe that during these festive seasons, patronage drops, but it is not true.

“To some extent, the patronage even increases due to the beehive of activities that occasion the festive period. For example, for this present hajj operation, there were people who ordered some package kilishi bound for Saudi Arabia,” he said.