Yolélé

ABOUT PIERRE THIAM

Pierre Thiam is a chef, author, and social activist best known for bringing West African cuisine to the global fine-dining world. He is the author of The Fonio Cookbook, Senegal, and Yolele!, all published by Lake Isle Press. He is the Executive Chef of the award-winning restaurant Nok by Alara in Lagos, Nigeria and the Signature Chef of the five-star Pullman Hotel in Dakar, Senegal. He is also the executive chef and co-owner of Teranga, a fast-casual food chain from New York City. His company Yolélé Foods advocates for smallholder farmers in the Sahel by opening new markets for crops grown in Africa; its signature product, Yolélé Fonio, is found in Whole Foods, Amazon, and other retailers across America.

Modern agriculture with its monocultural methods is responsible for 30% of the world’s greenhouse gas emission and we are using 70% of the earth's potable water to grow our food. In addition, our current food system is also limiting our diet to just a few products.  This limited diet has brought serious health concerns and depleted the biodiversity of the earth.

There is a growing demand for a diversified diet. Consumers are now looking for nutritious and resilient products from regenerative agricultural methods.  Many such crops are grown by West African farmers. 

Meanwhile, smallholder West African farmers have no access to market for most of their products. By opening new markets for their products locally and globally, we will be able to generate income for rural west Africa, allow small farmers to make a dignified living with their labor, and contribute in diversifying the global diet.

The semi-arid Sahel region of West Africa is home to 100 million people, and the population is projected to grow to 200 million over the next 20 years. The region is marked by severe poverty, with up to 80% of people living on an income of around $2 per day. 80% of the people also make their living from agriculture, but climate change is making that increasingly difficult. With little access to markets, most farming effort goes to feeding the family. The region’s youth are leaving in desperation: to overcrowded West African cities; to perilous desert and ocean crossings towards Europe; and to extremist groups who use violence to support themselves, leaving much of the region vulnerable to conflict.

At its core, the problem is extreme poverty and lack of economic opportunity. We believe that most of that problem is a result of lack of market access, which in turn relates to lack of processing capacity to turn crops into food.

Yolélé connects West African smallholders to local and global markets by introducing processing capacity that turns crops into food; guaranteeing purchase of crops at a pre-agreed price via contracts with cooperatives; and providing smallholders with resources to help them increase their productivity. In the US we are a CPG (consumer package goods) company, selling Yolélé brand foods made from fonio, our first ingredient platform – and building a global market for fonio by creating awareness through our marketing efforts. The reason why we’re building that market is to create income opportunity for smallholder farmers. In order for those farmers to earn good income from fonio – and also in order to meet the level of demand that we’re building – there needs to be industrial scale fonio processing capacity in West Africa. We’re working with local partners to build and operate a fonio processing facility that can meet the volume and quality requirements of a global market. The facility will buy raw fonio from smallholder cooperatives and turn it into food for global sales.

Fonio is grown by subsistence farmers, mainly women, in the West African Sahel – from Senegambia to Chad and Cameroon. Most of these women are living in extreme poverty. We are partnering with companies that buy other crops like shea nuts and mangoes from these women. By adding fonio to the list of crops those companies purchase, we provide an additional income stream in smallholder farming communities – from crops they already grow. We are based in the US, so we collaborate with organizations that engage directly in those communities. Those organizations include agri-processing companies with field operations, and NGO’s and government agencies that provide agricultural extension services. We ensure that our partners in the field consult with the farmers to learn what they require in order to make becoming a fonio supplier an attractive proposition for them.

Yolélé addresses several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. If we are successful in creating a global market for fonio and connecting smallholders to that market, it will help alleviate poverty, provide opportunity for women and youth, and build stronger communities by reducing one of the drivers of youth migration. But let’s focus here on mitigating and adapting to climate change. Fonio is drought tolerant, and farmers grow it in rotation with other such crops. By processing multiple crops we’re providing a market for biodiverse, resilient farming practices – a model for supporting sustainable farming.

I am a NY-based chef, cookbook author and social entrepreneur originally from Senegal. When I first arrived in NY in the late 80s, I noticed that West African food was missing in the so-called food capital of the world. Ever since, my mission has been to bring my food culture to the world. While writing my cookbooks, I realized that my readers needed to have access to certain ingredients that were not readily available, in order to prepare the flavors of the cuisines of my origins. Considering the growing success of exotic foods and ancient grains among consumers, I saw this as an opportunity to seize. If only I could figure out a way to bring ingredients from West Africa into the global market, I could also improve the economic situation of small farmers in rural West Africa which is one of the poorest region in the world.

I grew up in Senegal and moved to NY in the late 80s where I became a chef in NY. Over the years, I’ve opened several restaurants and authored 3 cookbooks. Since my career is inspired by the food of my origins, I always wanted to figure out a way to give back through food, the medium that I am most passionate about. Growing up in Senegal and having relatives who are farmers, I am aware of their challenges.

Food is a powerful tool for connecting culture. Being a chef in NY, I am naturally on the pulse of food trends. Today's consumers are becoming more sophisticated. There is a growing interest in ancient grains, gluten-free or other plant-based products. I saw this as an opportunity for West African farmers. Yolélé's success would be a model of development for rural communities in Africa.

My TED Talk on the subject has been viewed over 1 million times.

Because of my unique position as a chef from NY who grew up in Senegal, I can deliver this project from a vantage point. 

Through my work, I have become an ambassador, representing my food culture through my restaurants, cookbooks and lectures. I have traveled extensively through rural Africa and built a reputation as an advocate for African farmers. I have an intimate understanding of the farmers' challenges and I know what to do to solve them.

My business partner, Philip Teverow, is also a veteran in the food import industry who has opened markets for several food products for more than 2 decades. Together, we created Yolélé, an African food company designed to introduce food products from rural Africa, with the goal to bring economic prosperity to the region and to the farmers. We officially launched in 2017 with our first product: Fonio. Today we are distributing our fonio brand nationwide all over the US through Whole Foods Markets, and through a growing number of independent retailers. We are also selling online, e-commerce and in food services. We have recently rebranded and launched 5 new fonio pilaf products using other ingredients from West Africa. This fall, we are planning to enter the snack category by introducing 3 fonio chips flavors to the market. Finally, we are also adding fonio flour to our list of products.

When we first launched Yolele, I was clueless of the steps that would be required to bring fonio to the US. Fonio is a tiny grain with a hull that needs to be removed in order for it to become food. I soon found out that much of the fonio processing was still done manually and that it didn’t meet the international standards for exports. Furthermore, the processing was not consistent and the loss of fonio could be as high as 40%.

In order to be sustainable, I needed to figure out how to create a chain of value where none existed. I contacted several milling equipment manufacturers around the world and sent them fonio paddy. I was able to locate a company in India who could build equipment that would not only clean the fonio in an efficient way, but it would also eliminate the loss of fonio which automatically translated into an increased production of close to 40% from the actual numbers.

I am presently in talks with local entrepreneurs, to build the first state of the art fonio mill.

Not getting discouraged by the challenge that I was facing allowed me to turn it into an opportunity.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit NY, I was able to turn my restaurant Teranga into a kitchen that would feed hospitals, first responder and women and kids shelters in our Harlem community. This ability to lead and turn my restaurant into a positive contribution in face of adversity was applauded by the community and featured in the news on ABC-TV.