Ready stews thriving in the Midwest

Esther Tongo's stew sauce, which she grew up eating in Nigeria, is popping up on store shelves at major retailers including Jewel and Dominick's.

It took about eight years for the Naperville woman to get to this point. She started the business, Esther's Authentic Foods, about eight years ago with the idea of selling her tomato-based stew sauce.

Ready Stew started hitting the market about five years ago mainly in small independent stores, including Chika International Market in Bolingbrook.

The entrepreneur initially targeted the African consumer, but found her recipe was even more popular with non-Africans.

The all-natural vegetarian sauce can be used to create a variety of dishes, including pizza, soups and stews. "You can add meat, shrimp or fish and make it a meal," she said. It's also popular to mix with rice in making Spanish rice.

The sauce, which comes in a mild and spicy variety, is sold in 8-ounce, 16-ounce and gallon containers, Tongo said. A 16-ounce jar sells for about $6.

Tongo, who had been making the recipe for family and friends for years, was persuaded by friends to market the tasty blend.

However, because the old family recipe was never written down, it was difficult to create the same flavor every time she made it.

That's where Tongo's husband, Dwin, put his engineering background to use.

"It took a while, but he formulated a recipe to the last decimal point," said Esther, 49.

They found a manufacturer who makes the sauce, which has 12 ingredients and no preservatives, in Illinois.

The Tongos both grew up in Benin City, Nigeria. They emigrated from West Africa and later met at Washington State University. Esther earned a master's degree in agricultural economics and then an MBA in strategic planning. She says she originally wanted to be a poultry farmer in Nigeria, because she felt it was the fastest, cheapest way to introduce protein to children's diets.

Instead, she got married and had children. She worked for Amoco. Her husband works for BP.

About six years ago, Esther started her own consulting firm focusing on the energy industry.

It's the sauces that have been taking the majority of her time, though.

She recently signed a contract with Walmart. The discounter is selling the sauce at stores in the South. Her next goal is to get the stew sauces into stores in New York. Tongo is also catering to college campuses. The Ready Stew is served at dining halls at Purdue University.

The Tongos have three children in college who have assisted in getting the business going and helping out in doing store demonstrations.

Esther is thrilled with how well the sauce is selling. "There's no product like this in the market," she said.

For more information, call (630) 355-0111 or check out readystew.com.

Kim Mikus welcomes comments at kmikus@dailyherald.com or (847) 427-4567.