She started with a few jars of jam sold at Libreville markets. Five years later, her chutneys entered 250 Monoprix stores in France. Portrait of an entrepreneur taking Gabonese fruit around the world.
In the Petits Pots de l'Ogooué workshop, the air smells of warm mango and ginger. Jessica Allogo watches over a kettle of chutney: “Every fruit has its hour. A January mango doesn't taste like an April one. Our job is to capture that moment.”
The story begins with a frustration. On Libreville's shelves, imported jams take up all the space, while the country's fruit — mangoes, pineapples, papayas — goes to waste for lack of processing. Jessica left her job, learned sterilization, tested dozens of recipes in her kitchen. The first jars sold at the market, then in a few neighbourhood grocery stores.
The turning point came with an unexpected collaboration: Monoprix and Maison Château Rouge were looking for authentic African products for their “Bonne Arrivée” campaign. The mango chutney and red chili oil from Petits Pots were selected. More than a tonne of products crossed the Atlantic — “my biggest order in five years of business,” she smiles.
Behind the brand, a whole value chain is taking shape: fruit growers in Moyen-Ogooué paid fair prices, women trained in processing, packaging sourced locally where possible. “We don't just sell jam. We sell proof that Gabon can process what it grows.”
What's next? Making the French listing permanent, opening up the regional market, and — she owns it — aiming for Asia: “The Chinese buyers we will meet at the CIIE want true stories and traceable products. We have both.”