The Lagos State Government, through its Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems, has selected 50 local chefs to participate in the maiden edition of its Eko Flavours Competition.

The Eko Flavours Project is a culinary platform for food vendors and chefs to showcase their talents and interact with food enthusiasts, starting from the shopping process from an organised market.

Abiola Olusanya, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, said at a news conference on Thursday in Ikeja that over 150 applications were submitted for the competition.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that out of the over 150 applications submitted, 70 made the cut, but 50 were selected based on the one-minute video submitted.

“We want to build a culture of eating healthy and to see how best we can maintain a good diet, the contest is designed to be a culinary platform for food vendors and chefs to showcase their talents and interact with food enthusiasts.

“The Eko Flavours Project is a transformative platform to showcase both the state, as the melting point of Nigeria, and the culinary prowess of its youths and local market vendors,” Olusanya said.

She said that the project, which was in partnership with the private sector, was introduced to drive efforts at transforming the food markets in Lagos State.

She added that it was also part of the initiatives by the government to better shape the state’s food system.

“Part of the requirements for this contest was for the contestants or would-be contestants or those interested in the competition to submit a video, stating why they would love to be a part of the competition.

“We received well over 150 entries, videos and submissions, but looking through in line with the criteria and instructions, it dwindled to 70 entries.

“All of us here today in the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as our collaborators and sponsors, have gathered here to select the top 50.

“To move to the next stage of the contest, it has to be 50 contestants and down to the quarter final, semi-final and grand finale,” the commissioner said.

She said the top 20 finalists would be determined by public votes, and the selection process would be free and fair.

Also, the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Tantacom Group, Mrs Jennifer Odufuwa, said that the purpose of bringing the stakeholders together for the selection exercise was to ensure that the process was fair and transparent.

Odufuwa noted that the contestants had lived up to expectations.

The organisers said that the winner of the competition would be crowned Eko Flavours Champion Ambassador for one year and also go home with N5 million cash reward.

The winner would be given an award plaque, one-year supply of free products, N200,000 shopping voucher to shop at the Mushin Fresh Food Hub, and a certificate of achievement, they said.

They added that the first runner-up would win N3 million cash prize, six months supply of products, N100,000 shopping voucher, a certificate of achievement and an award plaque.

The second runner-up, the organisers said, would go home with N1 million, three months supply of products, N50,000 shopping voucher, a certificate of achievement and an award plaque.

They said that the fourth and fifth positions would also win cash prizes.

NAN reports that the one-minute video sent by 70 applicants were viewed by professionals chefs, and the 50 successful participants will be mobilised with a voucher to shop for the next phase of the competition at the Food hub, Idi Oro in Mushin. NAN