Our Heritage

We're Passionate about creating Great Foods for sharing with our family and friends.

Great food shared with family and friends is one of life's certain pleasures. Yet finding the time to prepare great food grows more and more difficult for all of us. At Esther’s Authentic Foods, we take great pride in bringing you the best, in a form that's simple to find and simple to prepare. All you need to do is enjoy it. Using the finest ingredients and the most complementary flavor combinations, Esther’s Authentic Foods® Ready Stews satisfy your need for quick, delicious meals that won't weigh you down.

Devotion to Quality

Among the many immigrants who left Nigeria in 1978 to find opportunity in a new land was a young Edo-Nigerian woman, Esther Ovbiebo-Tongo. After her secondary school at St. Maria Goretti, she chose Washington State University for her undergraduate degree in Animal sciences. She then met and married her husband Dr. Dwin Tongo. She then received her Masters of science degree in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University. She worked for a number of years for Amoco, Coral Energy-Shell, and then returned to school for a second masters degree in Business---MBA. She has always been very entrepreneurial, she contracted her services out as energy industry consultant to NGC, PG&E, Enron, she worked for Nicor Gas, Brazos Electric and consulted in supply chain risk management for companies like International-Navistar.

Dwin and Esther decided to recreate the recipe for authentic sauce/stew that they grew up with in their hometown Benin-city, Nigeria; and the Esther’s Authentic Foods label was born.  Esther’s Authentic Foods is driven by African Immigrant families and their non African friends who are active and on-the-go. Spending time eating with friends and family is something these immigrants really value and enjoy. With their busy lifestyle, eating on the run is often a necessity now. Esther’s Authentic Foods Ready Stew®  is a nice change of pace from the usual chores of fixing authentic African stew from scratch. It has to taste authentic for it to be considered for repeat purchases. The immigrants still crave and want authentic African stew – taste and quality like they were used to in Africa. Here the first Esther’s Authentic Foods premium Ready stew was introduced in 2004, a sauce based on an old family recipe. It was also the first canned, completely ready-to-serve stew in America.

Since then, Esther’s Authentic Foods has continued its long tradition of creating fine Nigerian and Nigerian-influenced foods. Now, because of Esther Ovbiebo-Tongo’s American dream, people across the country are able to enjoy high-quality Esther’s Authentic Foods Ready Stews. “Now I can get authentic African stew without the hassle of preparation”. Our customers believe in us because of our High-quality ingredients, Authentic African stew taste, Easy and quick to prepare and ready to eat.