Covid-19 was the main reason the business was started, according to Comfort Chefs owner Gianni D’Offizi. Being a father to twin girls and a son who was diagnosed with Type one diabetes left him determined to find a way to support his family.

“My wife encouraged me to use my cooking skills, so I pulled up my pots and lit my gas stove, and asked my wife to design a menu for me. I opened a Facebook page and from there, I got a few customers, and the business started growing, growing and growing.”

Starting the business from home was both enjoyable and challenging, particularly because of limited space, D’Offizi said. “Starting a business from home was fun, it was creativity, passion, and very difficult with space. You only realise when you move into taking a passion like cooking and doing small production that your space is very important.”

It took only two to four months for demand for his food to increase significantly. He went from producing around 20-50 kg of food a week to as much as 80 kg. Referrals from customers also played a major role in driving demand for the business.

The growing demand eventually meant his home kitchen could no longer cope with production. “As soon as I saw that the operation here wouldn’t cope, I needed to make a plan to get premises and to be able to cope with the operational requirements to produce.”

The menu contains all freezer meals that run up to 80–90 different kinds that he does in two or three different sizes. “The business offers a variety of meals, including children’s meals, smaller portions for pensioners, singles and students, family meals and low-carb options. Others include fusion dishes, with traditional meals such as cottage pie, bredies and curries.”

Comfort Chefs owner Gianni D’Offizi. Photo supplied

The variety, quality of food and the different portion sizes, and the service is what brings customers back to Comfort Chefs, said D’Offizi.

Growth has been one of the challenges faced by the business. It can be difficult to expand while also having to invest financially to sustain that growth because with growth comes reinvestments.

Managing staff has also been a major challenge as the business has grown from working with one or two employees at home to having up to ten employees. “Having different personalities and attitudes within the business can present challenges, but emphasises that people are an important part of the business.”

It is expensive to run a business because of operational costs, and load shedding taking place at the start of the business which made the first three years quite difficult, but they were overcame by improvising every day, he added.

Looking ahead, D’Offizi said his goal is to create more opportunities and continue growing the business. He also advises aspiring food entrepreneurs that passion alone is not enough, saying they need skills in areas such as food costing, stock control, portion control and the business side of running a food operation.

OFM News/Siyakholwa Mbatyazwa sm

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