Case study

Saida’s Kitchen has been on an amazing food-inspired journey.

When I first met Saida I was exploring African food, in part the recipes and flavours, and in part the dynamics of population growth and migration that will make the cuisine more relevant over the coming years.

Success on a business journey, is, I believe, about taking good steps at the right time, growing, consolidating and moving to the next.

Saida asked me to re-launch her African food brand, which at the time was named SAIDA MIA. Given the resources available, it was clear that we needed to establish a strong foundation as a step to even greater things when the opportunity presented itself.

So, in truth when few were really listening, I helped Saida to relaunch the business, with a rebranding, DTC website & digital, content & marketing, product development and product manufacture.

The approach was to create and make a range of regionally inspired sauces and pastes, build a relatively simple brand, create some rich foodie content, and build a website from which Saida could sell direct to consumers.

With these foundations, Saida could then undertake her marketing to build awareness, and take a step on to the next stage. I provided some growth and marketing mentoring to help her do this.

And, the approach worked; the business gained support from Mission Ventures, and engaged with the Thrive with Sainsbury’s incubator programme, which saw the retailer support Black founder-led food and drink brands on their journey from start-up to supermarket.

It was hugely satisfying to play a pivotal role in Saida’s business growth, and this inspiring cuisine. And, all credit to Saida for her determination to bring her food vision to the supermarket shelf.

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