WORDS: KIT HEATHCOCK IMAGES: SUPPLIED
One of the silver linings of lockdown has to be the convenience of online grocery shopping. We no longer worry about missing a delivery, after all, we’re always at home! And with so many innovative specialist food businesses gearing up to keep us safe and supplied with healthy nourishment delivered to our doors, there’s no shortage of health and tasty choices.
Grazer
The idea for Grazer started when co-founder Ziona Smith was looking into diets to assist with her diabetes. Eating as healthily as possible, she and Christo van Huyssteen developed the idea for Grazer this year and were set to launch for online deliveries on 31 March, coincidentally perfectly timed to serve the Pretoria area during lockdown.
“Grazing ‘clean’ was quite challenging,” says Ziona, “sparking the idea to help everyone else to get hold of the cleanest, all natural foods, free from artificial preservatives, colourants, flavourants, hormones, MSG and GMOs. Besides, our business model is based on empowering the local community – by sourcing most of our products straight from selected local farmers we know we can trust, ensuring the highest quality with a low carbon footprint and competitive prices.”
Shop for individual fresh vegetables and fruits, eggs, meat and dairy, as well as pantry items, cakes and treats, freshly baked breads and more. “Our most popular products so far include our wide variety of artisanal breads and cheeses, our freshly roasted small batch coffee, and 100% raw honey,” says Ziona.
Free next business day delivery anywhere in Pretoria for orders over R500.
Flava & Co
Delivering meal kits and ready-made frozen meals in Pretoria and Joburg, Flava & Co is a female-owned and operated company. Jeanie Erickson and Dee Gullan are at the helm, both passionate foodies who enjoy sourcing interesting and exciting natural produce.
“We offer our customers the freedom of choice, they can order as many or as few meals as they like. We don’t have a minimum order nor do we lock customers into a subscription. Our meals are incredibly tasty, full of flava, as we like to say, but also nutritious,” says Dee.
Customers find the meal kits enjoyable and easy to cook besides being delicious. The Flava & Co menu includes plant-based and vegan meals, and changes monthly for the meal kits, while the frozen meal menu remains constant but is added to regularly. New for lockdown is a care package for the elderly, and they have dropped the minimum spend to R600 to qualify for free delivery. “We’ve seen an increase in orders over lockdown. It seems that the lockdown has shifted people’s idea of what they can buy online. And that getting your food delivered to you is actually really simple and a lot cheaper.”
Order before 10am on Saturday for delivery on Tuesday.
Braeside Butchery
Free-range, grass-fed meat from dedicated farmers selected for their ethical practices, Braeside Butchery commits to doing the choosing for you so that you get beef, lamb, chicken and pork that has a feel-good factor as well as tasting good. Their tag is Know your Butcher and Caroline McCann and team welcome customers into their Joburg store, happy to chat about the best cuts and cooking methods.
Their online store delivers to Joburg and Pretoria. For lockdown in addition to their extensive choice of free-range meats and biltong, you can order organic vegetable boxes, eggs and dairy – both cow’s and goat’s milk and cheeses. Plus there are tempting sourdough loaves, croissants and pain au chocolat.
We Are Food
Marvellous food for your freezer is from this family-run, female strong, proudly South African business. Their kitchen is in Durban, cooking and freshly freezing each dish to lock in flavour and nutrients, and their ingredients are sourced for quality, sustainable and ethical principles from carefully chosen small farms in the KZN Midlands. They have just updated their Pretoria delivery radius to include most of the city.
“We’ve experienced an increase in demand from customers who don’t want to go grocery shopping during this time, so they’d prefer to arrange to get food delivered,” says director Amy Weare, “and, of course, many people who may be looking for a little variety or are bored of their own cooking.” There’s a hugely varied menu including family bakes, curries and stews, vegetarian and vegan as well as low carb. If you have trouble choosing or want to send as a gift, the chef’s choice value pack rounds up 22 popular dishes.
“Right now customers are looking for comfort food that tastes like home-cooking, we can’t make enough beef lasagne and melanzane bakes,” says Amy.
Order two business days ahead for Monday or Wednesday delivery.
Operating in your hood: Pretoria
Grazer | 061 585 7646 | grazer.store
Flava & Co | 082 496 4208 | flavaand.co
Braeside Butchery | 011 788 3613 | shop.braesidebutchery.co.za
We Are Food | 083 779 5612 | wearefood.co.za
