... She learnt baking from her mother, taught herself chocolate making online and turned a baker’s frustration into a growing Nigerian chocolate business
That decision marked the beginning of a journey that would take her from home experiments to the factory floor, building a business around chocolate made in Nigeria.
Before venturing into chocolate production, Igweike had spent about 12 years in corporate consulting. Baking, however, was already part of her life. Her mother was a baker, and she learnt to bake cakes alongside her. Chocolate making was a different challenge, one she approached by turning to YouTube to learn the process.
LEARNING BEYOND THE KITCHEN
Through online tutorials and her own experiments, Igweike began exploring how cocoa could be transformed into chocolate. Her early attempts were not perfect, but she kept learning and refining her approach.
As she gained experience, she began to see an opportunity beyond her personal need as a baker. Nigeria produces cocoa, yet finding the quality of chocolate she wanted had proved difficult. She began to question why a country with access to the raw material should depend so heavily on finished products made elsewhere.
The more she learnt, the more the idea grew. Locally made chocolate could serve other bakers, offer consumers another choice and create opportunities to process cocoa within Nigeria.
What started as a practical solution to a problem in her own kitchen had the potential to become a business.
FROM HOME PRODUCTION TO LOOM CRAFT CHOCOLATE
Igweike started small, making chocolate from home while developing her skills and working towards a product she could offer to customers. Moving beyond experimentation meant learning to manage more than the recipe. She also had to consider production, quality, customer expectations and the realities of running a business.
That early effort has since grown into Loom Craft Chocolate, an Abuja-based business with a factory that produces and supplies chocolate.
Her transition from home experiments to factory production marks a significant step in her journey. She entered an industry dominated by established international brands, including Mars, Cadbury and Nestlé, and has spoken about how intimidating that competition initially felt.
Finding technical guidance from chocolate makers working under Nigerian conditions was another challenge. She relied on research, persistence and lessons from her corporate career to help her navigate unfamiliar territory.
She also developed a marketing approach built around familiar Nigerian flavours and food experiences, giving consumers something they could relate to. Rather than concentrating on what competitors were doing, she said she now focuses on improving her products and delivering value to customers.
CREATING MORE VALUE FROM COCOA
Beyond the business itself, Igweike's journey raises an important question about Nigeria's cocoa industry: how much more value can the country create by processing its agricultural produce locally?
Cocoa farmers supply the raw material that sustains the chocolate industry, yet their contributions do not always receive the recognition or economic benefits they deserve. Processing cocoa into finished products within Nigeria offers an opportunity to retain more value locally while creating opportunities across the supply chain.
Realising that potential takes work. Manufacturers must maintain product quality, manage production costs and earn the trust of consumers who already know established brands. These are challenges that require continued attention as a business grows.
For Igweike, however, the opportunity was worth pursuing. What began as a search for better chocolate revealed a wider possibility in a country that already grows cocoa.
A JOURNEY THAT BEGAN AT HOME
Igweike's story brings together two very different learning experiences. She learnt baking alongside her mother, but when she wanted to make chocolate, she turned to YouTube and taught herself a new skill
From those early experiments at home, she went on to build Loom Craft Chocolate into a factory-based business in Abuja.
Her journey shows how curiosity can lead to an unexpected path. A difficulty that might have remained a personal frustration instead prompted her to learn, experiment and explore a business opportunity.
For Nigeria's cocoa industry, her work reflects the possibilities of moving beyond raw materials towards finished products made locally. For Igweike, it all began with a simple question: if the cocoa is here, why not make the chocolate here too?
