Johannesburg - Eating well has a significant influence on overall well-being and health. Nutritious foods can enhance concentration and cognitive function, boosting one’s performance.
It has also been proven by the World Health Organization (WHO) that optimal nourishment can improve creativity and productivity levels.
Despite their culinary talents, few women chefs have ventured into large catering spaces, such as corporate canteens. Chef Zuziwe Dlwati, the owner of Wholistic Food and Health Service (WFHS), believes women belong in large kitchens.
Dlwati’s company WFHS, is a food service sector company which provides canteens with daily planned meals, for the workplace, fee-paying schools, universities and other speciality venues.
“We generate meal plans daily and handle all daily meals for targeted markets. We serve well-balanced meals with nutrients and aroma of taste,” Dlwati said. WFHS operates more than 10 cafeterias and tuck shops in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng and have headquarters in Alberton, East Rand. WHFS aims to maintain wellness while preparing appetising, fresh and affordable meals. We pride ourselves on providing unique, fresh, and sustainable dishes,” Dlwati explained.
Their menus are innovative yet customer-focused. They cater for diverse people including hardcore vegans, meat lovers and those who are health-conscious. The Eastern Cape-born entrepreneur moved to Diepkloof Soweto, where her grandmother taught her how to cook which sowed the seeds for her current passion.
Dlwati said she developed the company in her youthful days in her grandmother's kitchen, as a dishwasher.
“I would craft and create myself a meal, it was regarded as waste but that is how I learnt to prepare meals.” Her first meal was an omelette. As time went on her friends and family realised she had great cooking skills, they would ask her to cook at their parties and for their families.
After finishing matric she went on to study food technology and followed her passion of becoming a chef. Her family members were not amused by the career path that she had chosen, as they felt like there was no need for her to get professional training as she already knew how to cook.
Getting formal training helped her polish her cooking skills and understand the business side of things. Fast-forward and she has her own catering business and has hired over 50 employees, both full-time and part-time.
Among these employees are chefs, cooks, and other higher-ranking kitchen employees who manage and organise the workspace. The first challenge that she faced was the setting up of infrastructure and dealing with administrative work such as compliance.
The second challenge was finding employees. “I am grateful that I managed to overcome many obstacles,” Dlwati said. Currently, she is negotiating with five canteen establishments in other provinces.
The 100% black-owned business has opened up opportunities for a lot of people. The business has also taught her how to negotiate, market her business and explain her vision more comprehensively to other people. For Dlwati it was important for the business to be 100% black-owned because she believes in the Equality Act and enterprise development.
“It's important to hold a mark of financial freedom as a self-made woman in South Africa,” Dlwati said.
Paying it forward Dlwati started a mother-to-child care forum. “We support single and struggling mothers with clothes, food and home-care supply,” she said.
This is a CSI structure to help alleviate hardship in a single household. Before starting a business, Dlwati advised aspiring entrepreneurs to learn as much as they can.