Agege bread | Zikoko!

Whether you’re a fan of fluffy slices or crispy crusts, bread is a staple that rises to the occasion at every meal. Let’s break bread with Nigeria’s most beloved bread types, according to those who knead it the most. We asked around and this is what Nigerians think of the most popular bread types, from mid to upper crust.

Raisin bread

Raisin bread is rich and filling, but not everyone likes the too-sweet raisins.

Wheat bread

Source: 31 Daily

Whole wheat bread might be a healthier alternative due to its higher fibre content, but let’s all just admit we find it less palatable compared to the sweeter and softer white bread.

Brioche bread

Is it bread or is it a pastry? Buttery and sweet, this one gives luxury or special-occasion bread because it simply always costs more — or maybe it just looks like it does? Either way, Nibbles Bread is about to introduce its version, and we guarantee it’ll be easy on the pocket.

Tea buns

Tea buns are enjoyed as a treat, especially with tea or coffee, but like brioche, they tend to be considered more of a snack than a staple.

Sliced bread

It’s convenient, good for sandwiches and widely available. But beyond being the perfect plain base for peanut butter and anything else you might like, it’s simply not that tasty on its own like the bread types above it.

Sardine bread

Great for when you want something savoury without having to spend on a spread or filling after buying your bread. The only reason why it’s not top of the list is because if it’s not fresh, it’s nasty.

Coconut bread

Source: Amy’s Delicious Mess

It’s like biting into a sweet, nutty hug from the one Grandma who always brings you Gurundi and Shuku Shuku when she visits. Whether you enjoy this soft, moist bread plain or slathered in your favourite spread, it’s always a win. Throw in the health benefits of the coconut’s fibre and healthy fats, and what’s not to love? The only downside is how scarce it is.

White loaf

Source: Conde Nast Traveler

Are you really surprised this is at the top of the ranking? Soft, fluffy and sweet, this is the go-to that defines what a “bread” should be. The OG, Agege bread, is low-yeast, and all other types and brands model themselves after it. But Nibbles family loaf is fluffy and sweet with a good price and longevity.

Nicknamed the “bread of life”, Nibbles is one of the best bread brands in Nigeria today. People, especially those who like their bread fluffy, love it for its quality and variety of options. Today, it has family loaves and tea buns, with many new variants on the way. Available on a quick stop at any Kilimanjaro restaurant or any store or supermarket nationwide.

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AND NOW: We Ranked Nigerian Bread Pairings From Worst To Best

Lolade Alaka

June 11, 2024

Chopist, Eat

Agege bread, bread, Nibbles Bread, Nigerians, ranked, sponsored
If the most common staple foods in Nigeria had to line up in order of popularity, bread would easily be in the top three. Bread is one of the most versatile meals and isn’t limited to any social class — it can be the much-loved agege bread in the trenches or the fancy sliced bread on high-brow dining tables.

Bread simply doesn’t discriminate. But, like everything in Nigeria, it’s facing a hard time.

On July 13th, 2022, the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN) commenced a nationwide strike to force a conversation. The association is an umbrella body that caters to players in the Nigerian baking industry.

When the AMBCN first announced the strike in June 2022, the association accused the government of neglecting its members who are facing many business challenges. The association warned the government to use the warning strike as motivation to address its concerns.

What caused the bread strike?

The high cost of production is the AMBCN’s biggest concern. Data compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that the average price of 500g of unsliced bread rose by 35.21% from N310.81 in May 2021 to N456.79 in May 2022.

This hike in the average price is down to the prices of ingredients like flour which is made from wheat. Wheat can also be milled to make other popular meals in Nigeria like cereals, pastries, cookies, biscuits, cakes and noodles.

Wheat is the Michael Jackson of grains

Like many of Nigeria’s consumables, wheat is a largely imported product. Nigeria produced only 55,000 tons of wheat in 2020, despite consuming an average of 5 million tons annually. The NBS reported that Nigeria’s durum wheat import rose from N401.31 billion in 2019 to N1.29 trillion in 2021.

Russia and Ukraine are two of the top producers of wheat globally. They jointly account for about 30% of the global wheat trade. Their output means that the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military would have an impact on the wheat supply chain to countries like Nigeria.

Even before the Russian invasion, the COVID-19 pandemic had created shipping disruptions that affected imports in Nigeria and drove up prices of wheat-affiliated products like bread. The Russian-Ukraine war just made things worse globally for the wheat trade.

The average prices of other bread-making ingredients such as sugar and butter have also skyrocketed over the past year.

The worsening value of the naira against the dollar is another issue that Nigerian breadmakers have to face.

This is what the cost of production of bread looks like

Regulatory overreach blamed for bread strike

Another one of AMBCN’s complaints to the Nigerian government is the conduct of regulatory agencies. The association accused agencies like the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) of making life difficult for its members. The main complaint is that the agencies are charging bread makers “outrageous levies” at a time when business is more difficult than ever.

The high cost of production is forcing many bakeries to shut down nationwide as owners simply can’t keep up. Shutting down businesses means more Nigerians are further populating the already saturated unemployment market. These issues are what inspired the AMBCN to embark on its strike.

What do bread makers want?

Bread makers have steadily increased the price of their products to adjust for the high cost of production over the past year. But the July 13th strike is a statement to the government that simply increasing bread prices isn’t a sustainable strategy. So this fight with the government is for your benefit, dear bread customer reading this.

The AMBCN has requested that the government take deliberate steps to arrest the inflation of prices for the ingredients driving up production costs.

One of such suggested steps is the reduction of tariffs on baking materials like the 15% levy on wheat importation. The AMBCN also wants the government to open up the competition on sugar importation and not limit it to only three licenced importers.

Another obvious step is to give dealers easy access to foreign exchange at the official rate to buy important bread ingredients like wheat.

They also want the government to make NAFDAC the sole regulator of bakeries to prevent exploitation by other regulatory agencies.

Okay, but will I still get my bread?

The bread strike will create some disruption in bread supply nationwide, but not enough that production would completely halt. The strike is only a warning strike and will end on July 27.

ALSO READ: What Just Happened in Kuje Prison?

Samson Toromade

July 13, 2022

Citizen

Agege bread, Bread strike, inflation, Nigeria
1. When you’re hungry and no Agege bread seller has passed your house.

Is it fair?
2. You, when you finally hear “AGEEEEGEEEE BREAAAADDD!!!”

YESSS!!!
3. When you see an ewa agoyin seller walking beside the agege seller.

WONDERFUL!
4. When you’ve already seen the bread you’ll pick before the hawker even drops her tray.

No be today.
5. When she opens the nylon and the smell of hot bread hits your nose.

My body is ready
6. When they try to sell you agege bread that is not white and soft.

See my life oh.
7. You, when the woman asks if she should put butter.

So that what will happen?
8. When someone tries to tell you about how it is unhealthy because of bromate.

Did I ask you though?
9. When you buy the bread and find out it’s not ‘today’s own’.

Hay God!
10. When you hear someone compare sliced bread to agege bread.

Better respect yourself.
11. When the only burger you recognize is ‘risky burger’.

12. You, dipping your agege bread in tea when no one is looking.

What is shame?
13. When you eat your agege bread with akara in the middle.

MAGIC!

Daniel Orubo

August 8, 2016

Oldies

Africa, agege, Agege bread, breakfast, Lagos, Nigeria
Odunayo

March 12, 2016

Oldies

Agege bread, akara, Coke, ewa agonyin, moi moi
Olajumoke Orisaguna, widely known as the bread seller who crashed TY Bello’s shoot for British-Nigerian rapper Tinie Tempah, graced the cover of ThisDay Style yesterday (February 7th)!

Stunning! We shared the story with you last week and Olajumoke’s grass to grace story has touched so many Nigerians around the country.
Olajumoke’s shoot included an image of her gently cradling her beautiful 14 month old daughter in her arms.

Jumoke originally from Osun state, is a married mother of two, a 5 year old and 14 month old daughter (pictured above). Looking to make more money for her family, Jumoke left her older child and husband in Osun state and moved to Lagos. Little did she know her life was about to change for the better!
Ty Bello in a series of Instagram posts, shared Olajumoke’s miraculous story:

“Olajumoke a bread hawker from the Sabo market bakery, walked entirely by coincidence unto our set of our Thisday style shoot for @tiniegram The moment didn’t look special at all. If anything she stood there a little confused .. Some people asking her to leave the set and others asking her to stay . I signaled if it was OK to take her photograph and she agreed and I pressed on my shutter so she could move ahead . My main subject of interest was the Okada driver that had slowed down just before she arrived. Okada riders have that cool Lagos vibe and always happen to add a bit of swag to street portraits. I was wrong to have paid her such little attention. Every frame with her in it was perfect .. I had found a second subject in the Tinnie’s story .. A young beautiful hawker who could have served as a love interest of some sort. Digitally I made the red in her dress match @tiniegram sleeves to create a connection between them..”
“When the magazine came out last week and the images hit social media , I was proven right this girl split the limelight with the main subject effortlessly… questions and comments started to fly: Was she a model? How did we convince the model to balance all that bread on her head . The buzz about her multiplied when I clarified that she indeed wasn’t a model at all but simply stumbled on our set. I immediately begone my search for her. If so many felt she was beautiful enough to be a model.. Then maybe she was mean to be one. I was going to find a way to make it happen. I had assistants leave word with people in the area we shot her and to my delight the very next day, she showed up at my studio.
“Aso kan na ni mo wo kiri Lana…” Jumoke the ‘model’ the Internet had been searching for speaks almost no English”. But can read and write fluently in Yoruba.

“She explained how she had worn the exact outfit in our photograph the day before and someone showed her her own photograph on his phone from face book. A mallam led her to my studio that morning. She narrated her journey to Lagos… A hair stylist from Ire in Osun state but not making enough profit between she and her husband, a sliding door installer in from same village, to care for their two young children. At the invitation of a distant relative who knew someone operating a bakery, she relocated Lagos with her 14 month old daughter to give bread hawking a try, leaving her husband and older 5 year old behind . As I listened to her, I wandered if the beauty I had seen on my screen as I edited my image was a fluke… well, until she smiled… I realized that I was wrong… I had in fact underestimated the beauty of this 27 year old woman. As always, it was her eyes and of course her perfectly chiseled features that jumped out at you when she chuckled. This lady belonged in front of my camera. After a conversation with her husband telling him the story of our meeting, I decided I was going to photograph her that very afternoon… Within an hour, Bimpe Onakoya, one of Nigeria’s leading makeup artist and Zubby one of my favourite hairstylist were at my studio to work magic. They had both followed the story online and were more than happy to put in their very best for her…”
“…‘Ka ma kiri Buredi ko suwon ‘ she explained that bread hawking wasn’t the most profitable business but put enough food on her table . It also put a roof over a head .. Howbeit a roof she shared with scores of other hawkers . She was a trained hairdresser back in Osun state but her family could not afford the necessarily ‘freedom ‘ ceremony ; a passing out ritual that gives a trainee a sometimes unwritten permission to start a full fledged salon . We all decided that the make over would be incomplete if it ended at the studio . Every one started to reach out to their contacts and through Bimpe we were able to get her a meeting with Ugo the pioneer of Make-me salon . As a result of the buzz she generated from the Thisday cover Our model is now close to starting an internship at @makemesalon and has been offered a additional internship with @sarisignature a famous Lebanese owned salon on the island island . To pay Jumoke her model fee from her first job in front of the camera we called @_ujumarshall one of Nigeria’s And matched her fees .She’s been offered a modelling contract with the help of @godsonukaegbu from a @fewmodels .She’s also had @payporte reach out to her to be model on their next billboard campaign .”
“Just this morning, a mentor of mine offered to foot the bill for her accommodation, education as well as her child’s .. This finally makes it possible to be finally reunited with her husband and older child.”

“..I’ve asked my self over and again why all of this is happening . One thing is clear .. This woman here is no charity case .. We met her in the middle of her hustle … The woman works hard.. Seven days a week .. With a family to support .. But with dignity ..who pays that much attention to how she looks as she’s about to hawk bread … ?Arranging the bread so delicately like it was worth much more .. Making sure she left the bakery while it was steamy and hot … Every body likes their bread hot . .. All of this even when it’s clear that her profit in a day is between N300-500 . This is the story of so many Nigerians .. The young house selling gala in traffic… The woman braiding hair under the bridge .. Nigerians work hard and we go it with style … This has taught us and I hope everyone reading to pay a little attention ., to those clearly working hard around us .. You may have your own wahala to deal with .. But nothing gives you a bigger break from your troubles than just making life easier for someone else .. Give an orange seller a N1000 note and she may be able to take the next day off to attend to herself and her children..”
“Jumoke is sorted … I personally believe so with all the doors opening up for her but This story is more about the ‘jumokes’around you . Who put in all the work but just need a little push .You may not be able to help every one but as I learnt from someone I really respect … In your own unique way …. Do for the ONE what you would have liked to do for ALL. Jumoke ooo.. Wants to be a hairstylists but secretly nurses a fantasy to act in a Yoruba film one day .. I know she’ll be a nollywood hit .. She did great in front of my camera and understood how to work the tiniest emotional nuances .She may not speak much English but can read and write in Yoruba.” – TY Bello
Such a beautiful story to remind us all to be kind and supportive to every person we meet! Because just a little help can go a very long way and make a difference in someone’s life.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBfcMXrkbPy/?taken-by=tybello

Meanwhile, because Nigerians find humour in everything, someone created this.

Your own will come too oh!! *Goes to buy agege bread and tray* Featured image via TY Bello.

Damilola

February 8, 2016

Gist

Agege bread, bread seller, olajumoke orisaguna, tinie tempah, ty bello

Raisin bread

Wheat bread

Brioche bread

Tea buns

Sliced bread

Sardine bread

Coconut bread

White loaf

What caused the bread strike?

Regulatory overreach blamed for bread strike

What do bread makers want?

Okay, but will I still get my bread?

1. When you’re hungry and no Agege bread seller has passed your house.

2. You, when you finally hear “AGEEEEGEEEE BREAAAADDD!!!”

3. When you see an ewa agoyin seller walking beside the agege seller.

4. When you’ve already seen the bread you’ll pick before the hawker even drops her tray.

5. When she opens the nylon and the smell of hot bread hits your nose.

6. When they try to sell you agege bread that is not white and soft.

7. You, when the woman asks if she should put butter.

8. When someone tries to tell you about how it is unhealthy because of bromate.

9. When you buy the bread and find out it’s not ‘today’s own’.

10. When you hear someone compare sliced bread to agege bread.

11. When the only burger you recognize is ‘risky burger’.

12. You, dipping your agege bread in tea when no one is looking.

13. When you eat your agege bread with akara in the middle.

Olajumoke Orisaguna, widely known as the bread seller who crashed TY Bello’s shoot for British-Nigerian rapper Tinie Tempah, graced the cover of ThisDay Style yesterday (February 7th)!

Olajumoke’s shoot included an image of her gently cradling her beautiful 14 month old daughter in her arms.

Ty Bello in a series of Instagram posts, shared Olajumoke’s miraculous story:

“Aso kan na ni mo wo kiri Lana…” Jumoke the ‘model’ the Internet had been searching for speaks almost no English”. But can read and write fluently in Yoruba.

“Just this morning, a mentor of mine offered to foot the bill for her accommodation, education as well as her child’s .. This finally makes it possible to be finally reunited with her husband and older child.”

Such a beautiful story to remind us all to be kind and supportive to every person we meet! Because just a little help can go a very long way and make a difference in someone’s life.

Meanwhile, because Nigerians find humour in everything, someone created this.