As someone who loves to eat and is always excited to try new African dishes, I was more than thrilled to see the Africa Food Show featured on CNN! Shows like this really get me buzzing because they celebrate the heart and soul of our continent’s cuisine.
In the latest episode of Connecting Africa, CNN’s Victoria Rubadiri explored South Africa’s creative economy by visiting the Africa Food Show in Cape Town, the largest food show on the continent. The three-day event was a feast for the senses, showcasing chefs bringing their dishes to life while giving vendors the chance to connect with consumers and distributors from across Africa.
Matt Denton, president of DMG Events, explained,
“This is one of those first stepping stones to truly internationalise the proposition for countries looking to enter the African market.”
For distributors, the event is about broadening their product lines. Yonela Motloung, UFS South Africa Marketing Lead, shared with Rubadiri that the show is “good partnerships from a root market perspective with local partners who are able to deliver with excellence that is really, really the solution and is regulatory.”
Unilever Food Solutions South Africa brings over 130 products to the table, with a vision of creating a truly borderless African cuisine. Motloung noted, “People are getting the opportunity to taste the world right in their homes here in Africa. Street food couture is about taking everyday street food and modernising it in exciting ways, while culinary roots embraces our continent’s diversity and brings it to life.”
For chefs looking to scale their businesses, programs like the Wakanda Food Accelerator are game-changers. CEO Miles Kubheka told Rubadiri,
“We find amazing food and beverage creatives and essentially bulletproof them to become superheroes. We support them with marketing, logistics, legal operations, whatever they need and then help them scale.”
Kubheka also highlighted one of the big challenges for African food creatives: logistics.
“Food is perishable, and there’s no unified railway system from Cape to Cairo. This makes sourcing ingredients and moving products across the continent tricky. But it’s a fixable problem, a logistics problem, and we’re excited to tackle it.”
He concluded with the purpose behind the Africa Food Show:
“A show like this gives food creatives a hub to showcase their products, share lessons, and communicate with peers. It’s called the Africa Food Show intentionally, not the Cape Town or South African Food Show, because it’s about celebrating Africa as a whole.”
Seeing this kind of platform for African cuisine makes me so excited for the future of food on our continent and for all the amazing dishes I can’t wait to try next!
