As a child of Ghanaian immigrants born and raised in the heartland, I grew up with a great sense of belonging to my home country, Ghana, thanks to my mother’s home cooked meals. At a young age, I always watched my mom effortlessly chop, stir, sautee, boil and fry, mixing indigenous spices and ingredients, and simmering pots of soups and stews served with our favorite starches and swallows. I learned the ins and outs of entrepreneurship while working in my parents’ restaurants and instantly knew that I had a calling to venture into business as well, but not in restaurant form. In my teens and early twenties, I would walk down the grocery aisles and wondered why and how the large and vast continent of Africa had little to no representation and products on health focused and conventional shelves, and I knew I wanted to connect with others through food. Access to West African ingredients was always a hassle which required planning, sometimes a quest I had to accept would leave me unsatisfied. I decided that was enough and we all deserve to enjoy our ingredients and our food anytime and anywhere, therefore Mampro: From The Root To The Fruit was born.