Newark’s first Afro-Caribbean food shop opens at Appletongate

The first African and Caribbean food shop has opened its doors in Newark.

Welcome To Joy’s opened on Saturday in a former piercing shop at 43A Appletongate.

It has been opened by couple Joy Alohan and Wellington Olotu, who have lived in Newark for seven years, and decided to open the business to bring people closer to home.

The shop, on the junction of Magnus Street, sells a wide variety of products from spices and sauce, fruit and vegetables to meat and fish and other products that can be hard to find nearby.

Wellington said: “There are no African or Caribbean food shops here and each time we wanted to go shopping for it we had to go to Nottingham.

“Some people also go to Lincoln and as far as London.”

The couple said to have been thinking of opening a shop in Newark for the past four years, however, it wasn’t until this year that they went forward with the idea.

“We eat all types of food, but when we eat food from Africa it just reminds us of home and we want people to feel the same and actually have it closer to home,” said Wellington.

“Our friend, Efeturi, has been great, she came here and took some pictures to advertise us and people on social media have been very supportive and they are encouraging us, it is really nice.”

The imported products are produced in many countries across Africa including Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe.

In the future, the couple would like to move to a bigger space to be able to display and sell more and different products, however, they plan on starting the business and seeing how it goes.

The shop will be open from 9am to 7pm every day, except on Sundays.