On a quiet street corner in Kano, a woman named Amina sits under a faded umbrella, shaping crunchy, golden spirals of kuli-kuli from freshly roasted groundnuts. It’s a craft she learned from her grandmother, who sold the same snack at the local market half a century ago.
The recipe hasn’t changed – just groundnuts, salt, and fire – yet the context around it has. Where once her small batch-fed neighbours and passersby, today it’s part of a growing wave of consumer demand for healthy, natural, locally made snacks.
From Lagos to Jos, Nsukka to Maiduguri, the same scene plays out with small differences: plantain chips sizzling in palm oil, spiced coconut flakes drying in the sun, or cassava crisps bagged by hand for sale on dusty shelves.
These are Nigeria’s indigenous snacks – a rich, flavourful part of our culinary story – but they have long been dismissed as ‘low-end,’ ‘informal,’ or ‘too local’ to matter in a modern economy.
That mindset is changing. And in that change lies one of the most overlooked growth stories in Nigeria’s food economy. From Street Corners to Supermarkets: The Rise of Local Snacking
Snacking is no longer just about convenience – it’s about health, identity, and experience. Across the world, consumers are rejecting ultra-processed, imported snacks in favour of options that are more nutritious, traceable, and culturally authentic. Global demand for healthy snacks is expected to reach $152 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 6.6%.
Nigeria, with its youthful population (over 60% under the age of 25) and rising urban middle class, is part of that trend. The country’s snacks market is already estimated to be worth over ?500 billion ($320 million) and growing rapidly. Yet, most of that value is captured by imported brands – from potato chips to candy bars – even though local alternatives often outperform them on nutrition, sustainability, and flavour.
‘We’ve underestimated the snack economy because we’ve underestimated ourselves,’ says Ifeoma Eze, a food systems economist. ‘Our local snacks are not just food; they’re vehicles for nutrition security, rural income, and cultural storytelling.’
The Forgotten Power of Traditional Snacks
The irony is that many Nigerian snacks – once seen as ‘poor man’s food’ – are exactly what global health trends are demanding.
Kuli-kuli, made from groundnuts, is rich in plant-based protein and healthy fats.
Coconut chips and tigernut snacks are gluten-free, high in fibre, and appeal to paleo and keto consumers.
Plantain chips are a low-sugar, potassium-rich alternative to conventional potato crisps.
Cassava-based snacks cater to the growing demand for gluten-free, indigenous grains.
These are not just nostalgic street foods – they’re functional snacks with real nutritional value, capable of competing with, or even outperforming, imported products on global shelves.
But while the world is ready, most of Nigeria’s snack makers are not. They remain informal, undercapitalised, and disconnected from the infrastructure that could help them scale. Packaging, shelf-life extension, food safety standards, and brand storytelling – these are often the missing links preventing a local favourite from becoming a global export.