… As GTCO Food and Drink Festival kicks off in grand style
From John Silas, Lagos
Segun Agbaje, Group CEO, GTCO, has said that the company remains focused on delivering experiences that are thoughtful, inclusive, and memorable.
Agbaje made the statement to mark the commencement of the 2026 GTCO Food and Drink Festival beginning May 1 to May 3, in Victoria Island.
He said, “As we welcome thousands of food lovers, entrepreneurs and families to the 9th edition of the GTCO Food and Drink Festival, we remain focused on delivering experiences that are thoughtful, inclusive, and memorable. More importantly, we remain Committed to creating platforms that enable people to thrive, connect, and explore new possibilities.”
The iconic financial guru maintained that the company believes that the most meaningful experiences are those that bring people together. “The GTCO Food and Drink Festival is rooted in a simple belief that the most meaningful experiences are the ones that bring people together. Food, in its simplest form, does just that. It connects cultures, tells stories, and creates moments that linger long after the experience itself.
“Over the years, the festival has grown into more than a celebration of food. It has become a platform where creativity, enterprise, and community intersect, bringing together small businesses, emerging talent, and establish brands within a shared space of opportunity.
The theme for this year, “Everything Food and Drink”, reflects the depth and diversity of that experience. From traditional recipes passed down through generations to contemporary expressions of global cuisine, the festival offers a space where every flavour, every craft, and every story finds it’s place.
Agbaje added, “Beyond the experience itself, the festival remains a strong expression of our commitment to promoting Enterprise. By providing hundreds of food entrepreneurs with free retail platforms and access to a wider audience, we continue to create opportunities for growth, visibility, and long term Impact.”
One of the vendors, Chinenye Ukachi from Chai Tang, is a first timer at the Food and Drink Festival. She said, “Our food is what everyone would like to try, the food comes in a very big bowl, and can serve two to three persons, if you are coming with say 10 guests, five guests it is something you can share, we have rice, noodles, we have different kinds of rice. We have the one for vegetarians, and we have for none vegetarians.
“We are located in Lekki, Phase One. Coming here has been a lot of fun and a lot of customer have been coming to us. We are telling GTCO, thank you. To those that have not come, I urge them to give it a try, GTCO Food and Drink Festival brings more customer,” she said.
Joy Isibor, runs Pamelo Pastries, a baking company located at Lekki Phase One, “This is our first time at GTCO. We have sweet chips, doughnut, sweet cake, sandwiches, among others, we produce for our Cafe, obviously, then we produce for parties. We can do large quantities depending on what our customers want and we are here to create more awareness of our brand.
“Our products are different from others because our products are made from pure butter, we actually make fresh french pastries, so our pastries are freshly folded, in different styles, French style, Italian style, everything is made from pure butter,” she stated.
Olaitan Adegbite, her company produces fresh juices, very nutritious tiger nut milk which has coconut in it, ginger and it has dates, among others, and each of those ingredients has their own health benefits. “We don’t put suger in our tiger nuts, we also have fresh juices like pineapple juice, water melon, cocumba, carrots, all the fruits you can think about, we do their juices here, we also do shawarma”. She said they are at Bode Thomas, Surulere, and can also be reached online.
Modupe Ore runs Amala Skye Lolo Ibadan.They came all the way from Ibadan to participate in the event, and has been comi
