03/23/2025
💙
"When Aiye Akhigbe traveled from Nigeria to attend college in New Rochelle, New York, she expected to eventually return home, begin a career and probably start a family.
Instead, after completing an undergraduate degree in advertising and a master’s in corporate communications, then working for several years in New York and Washington states, Akhigbe joined the U.S. Navy. “I’ve lived many lives, and each one of them I never expected to live,” she says.
While serving in Japan on an amphibious ship, she met her future partner, Ty Robson, who hailed from Niles, Michigan. After finishing their service, the couple moved to Michigan, where they bought a farm north of Niles. Akhigbe worked at a local credit union, Robson worked the farm, and the couple began a family.
Akhigbe launched Sticky Spoons Jam after a co-worker ordered 24 quarts of her strawberry jam, which Akhigbe had begun making at home as her young son grew and progressed from puréed Michigan produce to PB&J sandwiches.
Today, Akhigbe proudly spotlights Sticky Spoons Jam as a veteran-owned business and sells about 30 flavors of jams and preserves at over 20 Michiana stores, restaurants and markets and at the retail store and production facility they built on the farm in 2023. At the store, the couple also sell their own maple syrup and homegrown popcorn plus select items from other local producers. Through her online store, Akhigbe ships jam worldwide, including to fellow sailors."
- Geri Pawelski
Read more about Aiye Akhigbe and Sticky Spoons Jam in the latest issue of Edible Michiana or by clicking here:
https://ediblemichiana.ediblecommunities.com/uncategorized/sticky-spoons-niles-michigan/
Photos by Kayla Scarberry
https://stickyspoonsjam.com/