Making ordinary food look good, taste better

Eunike Kinyari

A business is only considered a business after it has made monetary gain. While some businesses flourish by virtue of a good plan, others flourish due to an innovative concept.

Eunyaki Crafts thrives on the latter. A food styling and photography business, Eunyaki is housed on a Facebook and Instagram page. The founder, Eunike Kinyari, started her page out of a love for creative presentation of recipes. The 27-year-old wants to inspire ordinary Kenyans to make gourmet dishes from their own kitchens.

Though her Eldoret-based business is set to launch in August 2018, she has a very clear map of how she wants to turn this unique passion into a flourishing enterprise.

Have you always had a passion for food?

Yes, but before it was more of a duty than anything else. My father passed away when I was in Form One. My mother had to raise three children.  As a single parent, she often left us in the house when she went to work on her tea farm in Nyamira.

As the first born, the responsibility to take care of my siblings fell on me. I realised it gave me a lot of joy and comfort to prepare their meals, instead of finding it a chore. Later in Moi University, where I studied Graphic Communication and Advertising, I got the reputation of cooking great meals. My friends were always asking me to prepare food for them. I think that’s when I knew I had a gift.

Tell us about your Facebook page.

Most of what I post is in response to questions or requests from the 1,400 followers. Generally, I focus on home recipes and remedies that can be achieved using ingredients and equipment found in most homes as well as reviews on gadgets that I think are a good investment.

What are some of the recipes you cover?

The most popular ones are the breakfast recipes. At least twice a week I will put a smoothie recipe. The beauty of my page is that I give step by step instructions on how to create a dish with all the steps accompanied by pictures.

Before I started the page I belonged to other food forums but I realised many of them didn’t give guided instructions so their followers often got cofused. When I decided to start my own page, I made it a point to include this crucial aspect.

Sometimes it’s funny though, because a member will write to say how come their tomatoes don’t look as red as the ones I am using or how come my pancakes are fluffier. With picture evidence, it’s easy to see where you’ve gone wrong and correct accordingly.

You also mentioned home remedies and gadgets.

Yes. An example of home remedies would be air fresheners. Many people get these off supermarket shelves when they can be made in the home with natural products that don’t irritate even those who have allergies.

For gadgets, I’ll give the example of a food processor I believe should be in all kitchens. It has a blender, slicer, grater and dough mixer all in one.

If you have guests and need to grate and slice four kilos of carrots, this appliance is excellent. If you hate cutting vegetables after buying them, this is for you. It works for smoothies too and making chapatis.

The whole point of my page is to highlight things that can make life easier in the kitchen.

How do you plan on monetising your page?

Mostly, I want to use it as an advertising avenue and a way to collect data on what people are looking for. When I post something and get 15 likes and then post something else that gets over 50 likes, it’s an indication of what the market responds to. At the same time, I get to showcase what Eunyaki Crafts can do.

My first commercial enterprise came from baking cakes. I was referred to a client through a friend. I charged Sh2,000 for a 1kg cake. Since then, still by word of mouth and via my page, I bake at least two cakes a month and have orders of about 150 muffins a month. The muffins cost Sh80 each and I also do cupcakes at Sh100 each.

How are you surviving financially at the moment?

I work full time at a law firm as an administrator. I do my food and cakes in my free time.

I wanted to study the industry thoroughly before jumping in.

When I do launch my business, I plan on going into food marketing.

Why food marketing?

Because what is appealing to the consumer builds a craving and cravings translate into purchases. For instance, I used granola in some of my smoothie recipes and took pictures. The friend from whom I bought the granola was so amazed at how something as simple as granola could look so appetising.

She’s invited me to do more recipes and take more pictures which she will use to market her product. As a food stylist it will be my job to take ordinary food like a meal of ugali, sukuma wiki and matumbo and make it look so appealing that you want to purchase.

Is food styling a relatively new industry in Kenya?

It is but that’s steadily changing. As our economy grows and more options become available to the consumer, something as simple as the way the chapatti looks in advert A as opposed to advert B can determine sales conversion and customer growth in a company.

Besides food styling, how else are you monetising this business?

Through cookery classes, I have lessons in which I take clients through how to prepare extraordinary meals using simple ingredients.

I believe there’s no reason why a meal made in my kitchen should taste any less appetizing than a meal made a 5-star hotel. Food is about the quality of the product and the skill and passion of the person preparing it.