21 May 2021 Food entrepreneur profiles Charmaine Govender-Koen Business name: Charm’s Kitchen Business type: Catering, Ready-made meals, Specialty goods Products: Prepared foods such as Indian curries, biryanis, bunny chows. Packaged goods: Indian pickles, spices and chutneys Area: Somerset-West Entrepreneur story A few years ago, Charmaine was inspired to go back to her roots and cook all of her favourite childhood dishes for her Afrikaans husband. She wanted to introduce him to the rich Durban Indian culinary world and, in doing so, ignited a passion for sharing this part of South African food culture with her community. With her natural talent for flavours, and experience in hospitality management, Charmaine decided to forge her own path in the industry with a sensationally delicious range of home cooked fresh and frozen meals that celebrate her heritage. Charmaine’s goals: Establish a brand of flavour-filled, traditional meals that bring heritage in every bite. Create an eatery space and deli with expanded retail of her pickles and other products. Cikizwa Galela Business name: Ciki Graceland Cafe Business type: Catering, Eatery/Restaurant Products: Traditional South African and Xhosa dishes Area: Langa Entrepreneur story Ciki developed a passion for cooking as a young girl when she made dishes for her friends in her hometown of Langa, Cape Town. After taking an Entrepreneurship course, she began to realize that she would not be truly happy unless she began operating her own business. She has established a growing catering business, offering beautifully presented, flavour-focused traditional dishes to government and corporate events, weddings and funerals. She aims to serve the community around her by turning her home kitchen into a family-oriented eatery. Ciki’s goals: Be the queen of catering of excellent, beautifully presented traditional food that honours their original flavours. Open a family eatery from her kitchen in Langa. Saa-rah Adams Business name: Frikkadeli Business type: Eatery, Specialty Foods, Catering, Retail Products: Gourmet frikkadel sandwiches, samoosas and packaged sauces Area: Kensington Entrepreneur story Frikkadeli started as a brainwave between Saa-rah and her sisters while reminiscing about their mother’s cooking. Wanting to share it with the world, they decided to start a business based on her Cape Malay recipes. They focused on perfecting a concise, flavourful menu with the quintessential frikkadel at the core. They pride themselves on using high quality ingredients and environmentally ethical business practices. Saar-rah’s goals: A family run eatery and deli, with customer experience at the core. Turn Frikkadeli into a household name through their retail range of delicious sauces and frozen samosas. Faieez “Fuzzy” Alexander Business name: Fuzzy’s Foods Business type: Bakery, Wholesale, Retail Products: Cape Malay koesisters and rotis, ready-to-eat and frozen. Area: Wetton Entrepreneur story After COVID capped the travel industry in March 2020, Fuzzy decided to start a business selling koesisters to support his family. On a whim, he entered Vannie Kaap and KFM Radio’s koesister competition and was crowned the World Koesister Champion! Fuzzy hasn’t looked back since. He has a stand at Makers Landing, where he aims to expose the world to the sweet and spiced Cape Malay koesister, and eventually sell his finished and frozen product into retail and foodservice. Faieez’s goals: Sell his perfected frozen koesister into retail and wholesale to supermarkets and hospitality. Zulfa Cassiem Business name: Ooh Fudge Business type: Speciality confectionery, Halaal, Retail Products: Halaal certified chocolate-based fudge in a variety of flavours. Soon to launch additional products such as fudgy brownie and millionaires fudge. Area: Milnerton Entrepreneur story Zulfa began her business 5 years ago. She has always been a proactive and independent person, and when she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, she decided to fight back by doing something that allowed her to create and bring her joy- so she turned her love for fudge into a business! She has the support of her husband and two sons in building and growing the business, but is excited to take full ownership over the strategic growth of Ooh Fudge. Zulfa’s goals: Expand her local sales channels to include hospitality and large retailers. Cater to the international Halaal community through export. Have her production facility ISO certified to allow export and leverage the space for other Halaal producers. Lester Adams & Connor Wolstencroft Business name: Slow & Low Business type: Food truck, Eatery, Catering Products: Smoked meat, homemade sauces & sides Area: Tableview Entrepreneur story Former artists and musicians, Connor and Lester met as chefs in the kitchen of the One&Only, where they experienced the culinary rigor of cheffing & learned the ins-and-outs of high-end restaurants. Eventually they left to pursue their dream of building their own business. Focused on their food philosophy of bringing community together through food cooked slow and low, they now offer a perfected menu of ethically-sourced smoked ribs, triple cooked fries, and mouth-watering sides. Find them at the Biscuit Mill Lester and Connor’s goals: Have an established market presence or food truck. Expand into other smoked meats and retail products. Service a broader market through an additional presence. Jane Nshuti Business name: Tamu by Jane Business type: Catering, Vegan, Retail Products: Vegan South & East African Sunday lunch, gluten free superfood wraps, homemade plant-based proteins, desserts Area: Rondebosch Entrepreneur story At a young age, Jane and her siblings fled from Rwanda to a refugee camp in the DRC where she learned to cook to feed her brothers & sisters. After moving to Kenya to live with her uncle, she became a 7th day Adventist, a religion that emphasized personal health and exposed her to vegan cooking. She began cooking plant-based meals for her family members & friends to convince them of how delicious healthy eating could be – and she was right. She now has a growing social media following featuring her creative, healthy and delicious food. She strives to influence a culture of healthy eating through plant-based foods. Jane’s goals: Create a plant-based eatery with strong African food influence. Develop a retail line of her current homemade products including gluten free wraps, meat alternative, cheesecake, etc. Become a social and ambassador presence for plant-based living, including a story type recipe book. Gareth Forbes & Jen Wheatley Business name: The House of Yummy Business type: Specialty Confectionery and Snacks, Wholesale, Concept Store Products: Packaged goods such as flavour-focused confectionery and snack foods e.g. gourmet candy floss, caramelised popcorn, popcorn salts and more. Branded, and bespoke white label. Area: Diep River Entrepreneur story Jen and Gareth are partners in business and life. Their young daughter inspired them to create something they could pass on to her, so they began to build their own food business in July 2019. While the original plan was to own an old-fashioned candy store, they started by developing gourmet candy floss which they began selling at markets, expos, and private events around Cape Town. They soon realised their talent for unique flavour creation, which they plan to showcase in their own product range as well as by creating bespoke products for other brands. Gareth and Jen’s goals: Create an experiential flavour emporium that surprises and delights customers. Expand distribution domestically and internationally of their retail and bespoke white label products.
