MamiMarkets connecting ethnic food vendors, customers

A West African soup recipe and a fruitless search for ingredients led to a business opportunity for two Manitoba entrepreneurs.

La Salle-based husband and wife Tayo Olayinka and Adeola Adegoke are two of the co-founders behind MamiMarkets.com, an online marketplace that connects ethnic stores to their customers. Launched in Winnipeg around 2 1/2 years ago, the service is now available in seven Canadian cities.

Ethnic grocery vendors add their products and storefront to MamiMarkets, with no point-of-sale integration required.

Customers then search for the specific brands and ingredients they need, and identify which nearby vendor has them. They can then place an order and have the products delivered to their home that day.

The website and mobile app also highlight discounts and sales. More than 65 verified grocery vendors have added their products to the platform, which has around 900 users. Those numbers are growing, said Olayinka, 37.

“We’re always working around the clock to ensure that we create a very good experience for our shoppers,” he said.

Born and raised in Nigeria, Olayinka and Adegoke were inspired to start MamiMarkets about five years ago. Adegoke wanted to make a West African dish called egusi soup, but she was missing the core ingredient: egusi, the protein-rich seeds of plants such as melon and squash. She drove more than 50 kilometres visiting three stores in Winnipeg and still went home empty handed.

It was a frustrating experience that got the couple wondering: what if there was an online directory where people from diaspora communities could see which stores have the ingredients they’re looking for?

After bringing on Suraj Fehintola and Temitope Moshood as co-founders in 2023, the team launched MamiMarkets at the end of 2024. They took the name from so-called mammy markets in Nigeria, usually featured in military barracks, where customers can buy food, clothes, flowers and other everyday items.

The company uses Uber drivers to make deliveries. It makes money from the service fees customers pay, as well as through partnerships with companies such as Elect Capital and Lightspeed POS. (MamiMarkets receives a commission each time it refers people to those businesses.)

Olayinka is working on a subscription model he said will create another revenue stream for the business.

In 2025, MamiMarkets’ gross merchandise value was $79,000, of which the company earned around 18 per cent. Olayinka says the company is on track to triple those numbers this year.

The numbers may be modest right now, but with ethnic food market revenues rising in Canada, Olayinka believes it won’t be long before MamiMarkets’ GMV is $1 million and the company is making $150,000 to $200,000 annually.

The ethnic food market in Canada generated US$1.8 billion in 2025 and is expected to exceed US$3.4 billion by 2033, according to Grand View Research.

Connecting with MamiMarkets has been a boon for Olumide Fasina, whose family owns African Foodways Market, a business with two locations in Winnipeg

“We don’t do deliveries because of the nature of how busy our business is, so them coming in has literally eased the pressure on us for delivering goods,” Fasina said.

The platform has helped create awareness for Chop ‘N’ Charm Meat, an African grocery vendor on Pembina Highway that opened its doors last year.

“Having another website that helps us sell our products is more than welcome,” said owner Grace Aderogba. “He’s (Olayinka) been helping us bring in a lot of customers.”

Olayinka is grateful for the support MamiMarkets has received.

“We hope that we can continue to help businesses and to help people find the products that they want,” he said.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca