Tayo Bolodeoku
PARTNER CONTENT
Nobody sets out to change Nigeria from their kitchen.
But in 2005, when Tayo Bolodeoku’s twin sons were diagnosed with autism, change wasn’t on the menu, survival was. So she did what resilient people do when the world tilts sideways: she made something.
She baked. Every single day, she baked from her kitchen – not for profit, not with a ten-year business plan, but with the kind of determination that comes when your hands need something to do while your heart learns to breathe again.
From those small acts of healing came something extraordinary – proof that pain can be transformed into purpose, that sweetness can be strength, and that beauty can rise from the broken.
A decade later, farmers in Jos grow strawberries they never imagined would end up in premium gelato. Over a hundred people now earn their living through the dream she started. A thousand Lagos students have stayed in school because of partnerships born from that same sweetness.
All because one woman refused to let pain have the final word.
This is how Hans & René became Nigeria’s most beloved gelato story – where therapy turned into joy, and a kitchen dream became the heart of a culture that celebrates the sweet life.
From Brown Boxes, With Love
Mrs. B’s cupcakes, in the early days, came wrapped in brown boxes with see-through lids and raffia strings tied by hand. No logo, zero strategy, just pure love wrapped in a box – and everyone who ate a piece could tell.
So when she shared these boxes of cakes with friends, family and fellow school mums, in no time, what started as personal therapy transformed into something nobody expected: people started asking for more!
Her friends at school wanted her cakes, their friends of friends wanted them too and by the time Mrs. B realised what was happening, she had an entirely informal business running from her kitchen – with happy believers waiting to receive their own boxes of sweetness.
When the time came to name the business, Mrs. B didn’t need to hire a branding consultant. She named it after the two people who made everything possible: her sons. Hans & René – or as the family knows them, Hanny and Rinny.
But there was more to it – there always is with the things that matter. Hans means God is gracious. René means born again.
Today, those brown boxes tied with raffia string have become iconic and even in 10 years of explosive growth, Hans & René has never lost that touch of intentional handmade-ness or the ritual of care as over 100 employees now carry that philosophy forward.
What started as one woman’s act of love has become a family culture that believes excellence happens when you care more than the world requires you to.
Big Dreams In Italy And A Wheelchair
By 2015, even though Mrs. B had built a successful cupcake business and the kind of reputation that most entrepreneurs dream about, she made a decision that would absolutely change the trajectory of everything:
She was going to learn gelato through technical training, exposure to best practices, and a real mastery of craft.
Off she went to Italy. To Carpigiani Gelato University. Then to Le Cordon Bleu in London. Subsequently, she took courses in Dubai and even annual pilgrimages to the gelato festivals in Italy – once attended in a wheelchair in 2019, just days after breaking her leg, with her husband pushing her through exhibition halls because Mrs. B didn’t do anything halfway.
But here’s the part that makes Hans & René different from every other artisanal dessert brand: She didn’t go to Italy to make Italian gelato, she went to master the technique so she could make Nigerian gelato.
This distinction changed everything.
Today, every flavour on the Hans & René menu is a conversation between Italian mastery and Nigerian soul. Young entrepreneurs across Lagos and beyond now believe in the possibility of building world-class products rooted in their own heritage because this brand gave permission to an entire generation to be proud of where they come from while reaching for excellence.
Hans & René’s Malva pudding
Agbalumo Gelato: The Unconventional Italian-Nigerian Fusion
If anyone could foresee that agbalumo, the bright, slightly tart fruit that Nigerians fought their siblings over on childhood streets, will make a delicious gelato flavour, it was definitely Mrs. B!
The agbalumo sorbet took weeks to perfect but the moment it hit the menu, something shifted in the air.
For the first time, walking into a premium gelato shop meant seeing your childhood reflected back at you as the absolute star – suddenly it was luxury, something worth waiting in line for and something sophisticated enough to serve one’s most discerning friends.
The people’s response to the agbalumo sorbet was so overwhelming, Mrs. B made a decision to source and preserve agbalumo year-round. She built relationships with farmers who had never imagined their fruit would end up in gelato and created a supply chain that honoured their work and harvests like they mattered – because they do.
But the genius Mrs. B didn’t stop at agbalumo, she created with zobo, with tamarind from childhood memories of “lickylicky”, with guava that tastes like summer and even with boli and epa – roasted plantains with groundnuts, all somehow transformed into frozen scoops of joy and laughter that have served the Nigerian sweet life community for years, with each flavour carefully perfected as a celebration of our Nigerian roots.
Passion E Attitudine: The Hans and René Strategy
One rarely discussed secret behind Hans & René’s enduring success is Mrs. B’s “passion e attitudine” hiring philosophy.
She hires first for heart, teaching the skill later – a philosophy born from the quiet patience of autistic parenting, and the unshakable belief that with dedication and guidance, anyone can master a craft and build a life rooted in dignity and purpose.
This hands-on, heart-first approach is why Frank, who once mopped the floors at Hans & René, now leads the entire gelato-making team.
It’s also why Patricia, who joined in 2009 as a caregiver for the twins, now serves as the company’s Head Decorator – a testament to what belief, opportunity, and trust in people can build.
In fact, back in 2020 – at the height of the lockdown, when the world held its breath and the future felt uncertain – it was Mrs. B and Patricia who turned the family dining table into a makeshift decorating station. By then, the dream was no longer just Mrs. B’s; it had become theirs.
So, when Hans & René swiftly rolled out curbside pickups and cashless payments, it wasn’t just smart business – it was the natural response of a team bound not by contracts, but by a shared heart.
After all, you can teach someone to make gelato, but you can’t teach them to care.
Over ten years, Mrs. B has hired over 100 team members. One hundred people whose entire livelihoods are tied to a dream that started in a kitchen, supported by a simple leadership philosophy.
AYÉDÙN: 10 Years Of Sweetness!
“When you have something good, share it. That’s how sweetness multiplies.” – Mrs. Tayo Bolodeoku
And that’s exactly what she did!
Over ten years, celebrities have lined up next to school children, businesspeople have pulled up in casual clothes next to families – all making Sunday mornings their sacred weekend ritual at the Hans & René flagship – with the simple belief that excellence tastes better when you’re sharing it.
In 2019, Big Brother Naija brought Hans & René into millions of Nigerian living rooms and what started as a simple feature became a cultural moment – suddenly, everyone was talking about the gelato, the story and the woman behind it. The brand had transcended retail to become part of the national conversation.
But it didn’t stop there.
In 2021, CNN’s Inside Africa told the brand’s story to the world because they looked at what Mrs. B had built and understood that this wasn’t just about gelato but a woman redefining what’s possible when you refuse to compromise.
The Lagos State Government honored Mrs. B on International Women’s Day 2020. Not for being famous but for doing something rare: taking her pain and transforming it into a platform for other people’s joy.
Speaking about joy, Lagos will never forget the first “Hans & René Owambe” in 2019 – a joyful, colourful celebration of Nigerian Independence Day. A party where the brand invited the sweet life community into a celebration of who they are and what they’re capable of.
Beyond the TV features, awards and unforgettable parties, Hans & René has partnered with Teach For Nigeria and raised over 5 million naira to support education in underserved communities. The #40kfor365 initiative in 2024 helped 1,000 students see brighter futures through the same consistent belief that when you have something good, you share it.
Gelato has been taken to orphanages, autism programmes have been quietly supported, staying true to the origin story that started everything.
As part of its 10th-anniversary celebration, Hans & René is deepening its legacy of heart – giving back to four schools across Lagos in a gesture that reflects the brand’s enduring commitment to community.
Today, Hans & René’s supply chain has evolved into more than a network of producers; it’s a platform for shared growth and opportunity. A farmer in Jos is no longer just a supplier – she’s a partner in something greater. A small-scale passion fruit grower now sees their harvest transformed into premium gelato, opening a market they never imagined possible.
This is what unfolds when a business is built not just for profit, but guided by purpose.
The 10-year anniversary theme is AYÉDÙN – a Yoruba word that carries everything at once. It means life is sweet but it also gives a deeper nudge to find and share joy, no matter the circumstances.
With a solid foundation and a decade of learning, the business is now liberated to dream better. To be more strategic, more ambitious, more intentional. To stop surviving and start soaring.
Hans & René is just getting started.
The Vision For The Next Decade
For Mrs. B, the first decade was defined by survival – navigating the dizzying weight of a vertigo diagnosis while moving between continents, learning to adapt without surrender, and holding fast to her vision in a world that kept urging her to bend.
The vision for the next decade is different, bigger and bolder.
Hans & René’s gelato spread
It is growth and impact.
Not just in Lagos and Abuja, but all of Nigeria. Making gelato known and loved across a nation that deserves to taste itself in luxury, everywhere and for everyone because excellence shouldn’t be exclusive – it should be widely celebrated.
As you read this, the next generation are already writing their own stories. Mrs. B’s first son is discussing business strategy with her. Her daughter is passionate about neurodevelopment and community care. One of the twins has discovered a love for baking – continuing the legacy.
The Farewell Ritual That Holds It All Together
Every single day, in every single outlet across Lagos and Abuja, there’s a moment that happens as customers turn to leave with melting gelato on their tongue and joy in their chest.
Someone from the Hans & René team looks them in the eye and says: “See you tomorrow.”
It’s not a sales strategy and it’s not even really goodbye. It’s a promise, a blessing and it’s the entire Hans & René philosophy wrapped up in three words.
Because this brand was never just about gelato – though the gelato is absolutely, undeniably exceptional.
It was about what Mrs. B learned in her kitchen in 2005: that when you make something with your whole heart, when you refuse to cut corners, when you celebrate where you come from like it’s the greatest thing on earth, when you hire people for their character and teach them the craft, when you stay wildly, courageously, beautifully curious, when you share your sweetness generously – People taste it.
They taste the grace and resilience.
They taste Nigeria – real Nigeria, proud Nigeria, excellent Nigeria – melting on their tongue.
They come back tomorrow. Same time, same place.
And they bring their friends. And those friends bring more friends.
Celebration Is in the Air, Lagos and Abuja!
Because when a woman refuses to let heartbreak be the end of the story, when she builds something that feeds people, employs them, educates their children and honors their fruit – that’s no longer just a business or gelato, that’s joy and legacy.
And that’s absolutely, undeniably worth celebrating.
Ten years.
Ten years of a woman saying “no” to good enough and “yes” to excellence. Ten years of a mother who turned her pain into someone else’s joy. Ten years of proving that the best businesses aren’t built on hype or smoke but on heart.
Ten years of Frank watching and becoming a maestro. Ten years of Patricia rising. Ten years of farmers from Jos becoming partners in something bigger. Ten years of families making Sunday mornings sacred. Ten years of 100+ employees believing in something they couldn’t quite see yet.
Ten years of “See you tomorrow”
To everyone who has stood in line for agbalumo, to everyone who has tasted zobo and remembered their childhood, to Frank, to Patricia, to the farmers, to the families who made this sacred…
Thank you for ten years of being part of something revolutionary.
