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4 female-run Cape Town-based food businesses to champion in 2019
17 December 2019
Food XX is a movement started by food designers Studio H, a team dedicated to empowering women in the South African food and drinks industry. Supporting women-owned companies, the most effective way to empower women, from one-woman-shows to family businesses to major career U-turns. Here are 4 of the Cape Town-based food and drinks brands to be excited about right now. From healthy takeout to agave spirits, they’re not only creating beautiful, crave-able products but are contributing to the economy and creating jobs, most often for other women.
Another healthy business opportunity for the list is Theonista. Their mantra is ‘Follow Your Gut’, and that’s exactly what founder and brewmistress Meghan Werner did when she founded the craft beverage company. While their product range spans rooibos ginger beer and rooibos chai, Theonista is best known for its kombucha. When she moved to Cape Town from the States, Meghan couldn’t find her fizzy, fermented fix anywhere, which is when she decided to make her own kombucha. Her experiments have led to a variety of flavours made in a microbrewery in Woodstock. Theonista’s first stockist was Lyndall Maunder, the owner of Clarke’s and Hail Pizza on Bree Street, and a fierce champion of fellow women-run food businesses. Today, Theonista can be found in almost every fridge – it’s the Cape Town brand everyone, and their gut, loves.
Masterchef SA winner, food writer, and host of Girl Eat World, Kamini Pather has just made ordering in much healthier – for you and the planet. FÜDY is her new food delivery service that’s predominantly plant-based (did we mention veganism and plant-based food is on-trend?) She designs the meals which she describes as chef-inspired and macro-nutrient weighted. Think basil pesto and pecorino zoodles (zucchini noodles) with fresh peas and toasted sunflower seeds. The food used is all sourced from local producers, growing even more local businesses. FÜDY is currently available through Uber Eats in Cape Town.
If you ever wanted a taste of the Cape, Nzeka Biyela, the co-founder of Sugarbird Gin, a Cape fynbos gin brand that launched in 2017 has it. The lightly floral gin has notes of rooibos, honeybush, rose geranium, and the Cape Mayflower but the newcomer to the market has a mission that goes beyond great cocktails. With every bottle sold, they contribute to programmes that empower entrepreneurs with a focus on women and people of colour – creating even more opportunities for women to thrive in the Cape of Good Opportunities.
Just outside of Cape Town, the Karoo’s harsh environment hold a special, spikey, green gem. Leonista is South Africa’s first 100% Karoo agave spirit made in the traditional method used in Mexico to make agave spirits like mezcal. Sarah Kennan is the woman behind it all. After experimenting with making her own tequila she realised she had to go to the source in Mexico to learn from master distillers there. She brought her skills back home and found the perfect conditions in the Karoo to grow agave. With every shot raised, she’s showing that Cape Town has a lot to offer investors.
We’ve only touched the surface, there’s undoubtedly many more business who are championing the cause and bringing more women into the economy.
Originally reported by Studio H, BizCommunity
