Restaurants in the United States — especially those owned by multinational corporations — understand the concept of the commissary. Now, Vendease is looking to take that same concept to Africa.

According to TechCrunch, the Nigerian startup — co-founded by Tunde Kara, Olumide Fayankin, Gatumi Aliyu, and Wale Oyepeju — came to be when the co-founders noticed that different restaurants around Lagos and Accra would periodically shut down. And their reason for shutting down was an avoidable one: they had no access to the necessary food.

When hotels in the area started remarking about the same problem, Vendease was born.

The concept, according to Kara, was simple: provide a centralized online location where prospective customers can purchase their necessary foods and other goods at reasonable prices.

“We thought to ourselves that if restaurant owners and hotel managers have these problems, let us actually do some research and find out if it is a problem we can solve the problem at scale and make money while doing it,” Kara said to TechCrunch.

And the reason Vendease calls itself the “Amazon Prime for Restaurants” (unofficially, of course — its website says it’s a “procurement platform that provides a transparent process for hotels and restaurants to get the best quality products at the best possible price”) is simple: because it provides that same quick, and easy, service.

Typically, the company can get an order to the restaurant in less than 24 hours — comparable with many restaurant vendors across the United States, which makes all the difference.

Vendease has plans to expand across the rest of Africa within the next five years.