•  By Renthia Kaimbi

The Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) has facilitated the setting up of an Italian culinary company, ‘Your Kitchen’, which has fast established itself as a first-of-its-kind model of innovation in meal production in Namibia.
With an initial investment injection of N$20 million by its shareholders, this dynamic start-up embraces cutting-edge European machinery and technologies to redefine food manufacturing across the SADC region. They are now gearing up for another N$10 million expansion using tools such as vacuum technology, sous vide cooking and blast chilling.

Co-founder, Alice Rigoldi explained that Your Kitchen came into existence as a result of the founders’ love for authentic Italian cuisine and sustainable practices. This is evident in how they have managed to ensure a circular model ensuring precision in crafting meals that meet international standards, while making use of practically every part of raw food stuffs as a waste management method.

“For example with our tomatoes, we remove the skin, dry (dehydrate) and crushed them it in to a powder that we give to our clients in the hospitality industry as a complimentary garnish, whereas with offcuts from our raw meat products, we use all of that to make broth,” Rigoldi stated.

Your Kitchen services diverse sectors with a focus on quality and scale. For Namibia’s booming mining industry, they projected the delivery of 50,000 meals annually in the period 2025/2026, intended to feed thousands of remote workers.  Meanwhile, the hospitality sector is expected to savour an estimated 80,000 gourmet dishes across a diverse mix of businesses, while retail market entry is still in its planning phase.

Proudly Namibian, Your Kitchen collaborates with local food heroes, confirming that all ingredients used in their meal production are sourced from Namibian suppliers.  “We work with multiple vendors because we require bulk quantities that often cannot be supported by one supplier but nothing comes from South Africa,” she emphasized.

The Windhoek-based facility, buzzes with a young, passionate team of 14 employees, including seven interns from local culinary schools. A former intern, who is now employed as an assistant production manager, is testament  of the company’s mission to upskill Namibians.

A new depot in Arandis, strategically placed near mining hubs, will launch early in June 2025, supported by two new hires. Three recent employees spearhead a packaging division, while three seasoned chefs will join by the end of the year. Rigoldi said none of this would have been possible without NIPDB’s guidance. “We deeply value this partnership and look forward to continued collaboration as we scale further,” said Rigoldi.