Highlights from our third year in business

When we launched Puff Puff Ministry in August 2020, our goal was to change people’s perception of puff puff. 

Yes, puff puff is a West African street snack that many of us enjoy at home, at parties or after church. But we knew that with a little creativity, puff puff could also be a great dessert option. It could be a gift you send to your loved ones. And it could be a treat to share with colleagues at work.

For us, there was no reason why puff puff couldn’t compete with doughnuts, brownies, and cookies. So we set out to make it happen.

Three years later, how are we getting on with our goal? 

Here are some of our favourite highlights of 2023, our third year in business.

January

• We kicked 2023 off working with brands such as Capgemini and NAKED TV, sending puff puff to offices across the UK.

February

• We continued posting boxes across the UK for customers who were gifting for housewarming parties, birthdays and anniversaries, as well as 'just because' gifts for their loved ones. Joy in a box guaranteed!

March

• One of our corporate clients emailed us to say their team ate 400 pieces of puff puff in one hour! That’s how much they loved it!
• We catered at Vue Leicester Square for the screening of Power Book II with Lionsgate + and That Grape Juice.

April

• We provided puff puff as dessert for the Gangs of Lagos premiere in London, hosted by Amazon Prime Video. 

May

• We went on BBC Radio London to tell the Puff Puff Ministry story. We spoke to Claira Hermet about our startup story and what it’s like running a business as sisters.
• We made mini puff puff boxes as wedding favours for one of our customers. We do weddings now!

June

• Our corporate clients were still loving puff puff! By this point, we had made boxes for brands like Airtable, Nike and Publicis.
• We made more wedding favour boxes for another couple. They’re the cutest! Couples can choose their own ribbon colour and personalised messages on the boxes for that extra special touch.
• We made some mini boxes of puff puff for the launch of Riches on ITV.

July

• We had our first in-person wedding catering job, and 450 pieces of puff puff were gone in 30 minutes. A new record!
• We also made puff puff for Black Tech Fest.

August

• We celebrated our third birthday by hosting a West African food and drink meet-up in Shoreditch, London. More than 100 people came out, despite the rain, to celebrate and connect with each other. There was plantain ice cream from Ice Cream and Ting, African craft beer from Eko Brewery, live music from Midé, meat pies and lots of puff puff. We even brought back our Milo & Milk puff puff for one day only!

September

• We made more puff puff wedding favour boxes! The couple chose pink this time.
• We worked with Netflix again, and we made puff puff for Endeavor, an entertainment, sports and fashion company. 

October

• We started off by making 2,000+ pieces of puff puff for the University of Warwick.
• We had the incredible opportunity to teach a puff puff masterclass at Google, and the Internet loved it! The video went viral and we gained 5,000 new followers on Instagram.
• We worked with many more incredible clients such as Peloton, DICE.fm, M&C Saatchi, Seasoned BuzzFeed, and Salesforce.

November

• We made puff puff for a Meta event with the Grammy-nominated Nigerian pop star Ayra Starr.

December

• We hosted another West African Meet-up with a festive twist, which featured a marketplace with West African-owned brands such as Ore Mi and Bixie Pots, with a DJ set from Mamoussa. It was a great day and it was amazing to see so many people come out to shop from West African brands. One of our guests told us that they invited friends who were visiting from out of town as it was a great opportunity for everyone to get together. That was amazing to hear because a big part of our brand is connecting people.

Our third year in business reminded us that, as always, community is everything. We’re so grateful to have a wonderful community of people who believe in our vision.

Thank you to everyone who ordered a box of puff puff, booked us for an event, or simply engaged with our content throughout the year.

We’ll see you in 2024!