Ogbono, Baby!: The Money

Around week 8 of my 10-week trial with the Ogbono supplements, I said to myself: "If this supplement is just the seed of a fruit, why can't I just eat the seeds, rather than taking the supplements?"

Now, this fruit comes from an African tree. Reading up on Ogbono in Wikipedia,  I learn that the seed is used by Africans as a soup thickener. So I say to myself: "Surely, here in Silicon Valley, a major crossroads of the planet, there is an African grocery store that caters to Nigerians and other Equatorial Africans, no?"

A minute on Google brings me to the African Foods Market at Bascom and Hamilton in San Jose, California. Google Maps tells me that the store is 11.3 miles from our place; about 17 minutes by car.

I call up the store and ask if they have Ogbono nuts.

"Sure", the guy says.

"I'll be right over", I say.

I hop in my car, scoot down the hill, and over to this little hole-in-the-wall grocery store. I've been in the store three times by now. I'm the only white person in there. All black people. Dark black people. Africans, you know. It's a wonderful little corner of Africa in the heart of Silicon Valley.

The people in the store are curious about my interest in Ogbono. One lady tells me she buys the seeds whole, and grinds them herself for her soup. I buy the ground seeds, and also the whole seeds. I'm ecstatic. I have found the Fountain of Youth, in a little strip mall grocery store, just around the corner from our house.

So, in our house, over the past couple of weeks, we have had Ogbono seeds in three different forms:

1. LEF Integra-Lean Irvingia supplements
2. Whole Ogbono seeds
3. Ground up Ogbono seeds

Here's the punch-line: Guess what each of these forms of Ogbono costs per ounce? Drumroll, please ... (This is like the old Price is Right show).

Here's the above list again, with price tags shown per ounce:

1. LEF supplements: $112
2. Whole seeds: $1.20
3. Ground seeds: $1

!!!!

Now, given that I am a True Believer in the Church of Ogbono, and I intend to keep on ingesting this seed well beyond the 10-week trial that just ended, which of the above versions of the Ogbono seed do you think I will continue to buy?

You guessed right. It ain't the LEF supplements.

You know, I had half a thought ahwile back that maybe we could attract sponsors to this website. You know, when one of us touts a product, and that inspires others to try it out, there's no better kind of marketing than that. It's called "word of mouth" -- the Holy Grail of sellin' stuff. Why shouldn't YOUscription get a cut of that action?

Well, this post is your answer. Because if I, for one, can find a source for the same bloody thing for 100 times cheaper than the marketer (LEF) is charging, I'm going to bloody well tell you.

That being said, my wife still wants to take the supplements. She's a little suspicious of the quality of these seeds that come from an alley-way market in a zip-lock bag. Buying the seeds at that store vaguely feels like a drug deal going down. You know, no bar code or ingredients label stamped on the package. Just the good stuff, man.

Me? I got no problem with informality.

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