When two young entrepreneurs from Philippi on the Cape Flats were planning to reopen their business after Covid, they revived an idea that had served them well before the pandemic: muffins.
Before the lockdown, Siphumeze Ramncwana and Siphamandla Mavumengwana realised that their street-food vending competitors were selling mostly vetkoek or braaied meat. No-one had muffins on the menu. Their idea had worked a treat before Covid. Now they are back with their old fare, having added burgers and chicken. But muffins remain a big seller.
Their story is one of a remarkable business recovery after the pandemic.
The pair began the business after quitting school before they had passed matric. Reality hit home when they struggled to find work. They hit on the idea of selling food and were given R200 seed capital by Mavumengwana’s sister.
It’s a tough market in the townships, but their muffin plan became popular with customers. By 2019, they were selling their muffins on the streets of the townships in Cape Town and at taxi ranks, even running a restaurant in an old shipping container. They were doing so well they won a R15,000 prize in a competition for small businesses run by Retail Capital, a division of TymeBank.
They also got to learn about running a business when they were selected to be part of a University of Cape Town (UCT) Graduate School of Business programme, a three-month course to help small enterprises.
“We were scared to go to the UCT programme because we did not have matric,” says Mavumengwana.
They got through the course all right, but then Covid wiped out their business. The few staff had to be laid off in the lockdown, ingredients were hard to come by and customers were few.
Now the pair are back up at 5am to begin baking so that they can get their muffins on time to commuters and to schoolchildren. Weekends are even more hectic.
“Later in the morning we bake some more so that we don’t miss the evening peak hours,” says Ramncwana. Today the muffin business is flourishing, along with additional sales of burgers and chicken.
The name that township customers gave them before the pandemic has become official: Estratweni Mobile Foods (estratweni being Xhosa for “street”). And they have branded aprons to match.
They quickly found that they had a good reputation on the streets and old customers started flocking back. Today they have spread their wings from Philippi, Gugulethu, Nyanga and Crossroads, near Cape Town airport, to as far as sprawling Khayelitsha.
They’re also back in the shipping container, which serves as the business’s headquarters. They have bought three food trailers and employ five people to help with selling and baking.
Post Covid we are stronger than before, the brand has grown and the people’s support has encouraged us
— Siphumeze Ramncwana
It’s a seven-day week for the business, with weekends now their peak selling time. They have extended the business to free home deliveries. “That’s how the business has grown,” they say.
“Covid killed us not only financially but mentally,” says Ramncwana.
When the lockdown restrictions were eased they sat down to rethink their strategy. Muffins remained at its core. “It was difficult for us but we survived and people said they had missed our products,” Ramncwana tells the FM.
“Post Covid we are stronger than before, the brand has grown and the people’s support has encouraged us to deliver and maintain the standard that made our food popular before [the pandemic].”
During the lockdown, the pair often went hungry but arranged to distribute sandwiches to others, especially schoolchildren. For two months, they ran a feeding scheme in the Cape Town CBD, serving about 1,800 people who, like themselves, were job hunters.
“It was vital for us to look presentable,” says Ramncwana. So they organised some chef jackets; “people assumed we were real chefs”.
“Service is a priority,” he says. “Because we are not trained chefs, we started watching cooking shows on TV to get to know how food can be prepared and how we can improve the quality.
“People now don’t just come to buy but to take pictures with us and upload on social media. That has helped the business to grow because we have become popular and the talk of the town.”
Regular customer Xolile Mpayipeli, who comes once a week to Estratweni’s restaurant, often with his family, delivers a verdict: “Mouthwatering and affordable,” he tells FM. “We no longer have to go to Cape Town CBD or other affluent areas to get better food.”
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