Sen Agro opened their doors earlier this year in April at 419 Broadway. We spoke to Elhadji Ndour, one of the owners of Sen Agro about the business. Ndour, originally from Dakar, Senegal, came up with the idea for Sen Agro after returning home and traveling throughout the “boondocks” or rural parts of his native country. There he was amazed by the crafts that the women were creating and was inspired to share their great work with the world. From that, the business idea of Sen Agro was created.
The business originally started in 2019 as an online retailer and focused primarily on groceries. Ndour said it was important to not only offer products, but to also make sure one has strong relationships with stakeholders and the community. Sen Agro believes this starts with helping others and has a history of doing just that. Some highlights include keeping the online grocery store operating as an essential business during the COVID pandemic, building relationships to source fair trade products from Africa, and even offering free shelf space to local entrepreneurs that create high quality African themed products. To emphasize their commitment to helping other, the company memorialized this ethos by adopting “Born to serve” as their company motto. After talking to him, we get the
The Bayonne store marks their first foray into a physical retail location. Once inside, you can expect to find a diverse and fascinating collection of African goods. Broadly, the Bayonne store focuses on four primary areas including jewelry, natural cosmetics, home décor, and food items, although other products outside of those are available. While certainly having a collection of Senegalese products, the store includes products from throughout Africa including Morocco, Ghana, Egypt and many others, giving patrons a truly pan-African offering.
For their food offerings, Sen Agro focuses on natural products, with many also having beneficial health effects. The selection offers a variety of items that would appeal to both the local community and those looking for familiar foods of their homeland. Popular food items include fonio chips, natural honey, wild caught sardines, authentic Moroccan shakshuka tomato sauce and even their own small batch hibiscus juice. Ndou noted that an authentic Senegalese grab and go coffee option is in the works, but highlighted the roasted coffee beans, which will make the base of the drink, are currently available.
One of the most unique features of the store is that the many of the products are from small batches, giving visitors a new selection of goods rotating through. This means, however, that if you like something, you will want to consider buying it that day because it might be sold by the time you return.
The Bayonne store acts as an extension of their online store, Sen Agro USA, which can ship products nationwide and offers a condensed preview of what you can find in the Bayonne store.
The store is open from Mon – Thursday 10:00 AM to 7:00PM with hours on Friday being 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM and 2:30 – 7:30 PM. On Saturday the store is open from 10:00 AM to 7:00PM. The store is closed on Sundays.
The location was previously occupied by Liberty Tax