By: Sizakele Nduli
Fast-paced life is leading to more people becoming obese because they do not have time to make home-cooked food. This finding by Siphesihle Mavimbela in her university dissertation prompted her to establish Setgo in 2020. The online company provides personalised healthy meal solutions. Mavimbela told Vutivi News that after completing her Bachelor of Commerce in Economic and Supply Chain Management at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, she knew she wanted to start a business.
At the time she had not figured out what she wanted to do, and while sitting at home without a job, she began selling a chili relish family recipe. “In 2020, I went back to campus for my Bachelor of Commerce honours year where my research focused on obesity,” she said. The 27-year-old solution-driven business owner from KwaHlabisa in KwaZulu-Natal who is now based in Durban, then set out on a mission to provide convenient and healthy meals.
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“Our target market is people that are in the cities, more so individuals who are time-strapped and don’t have time to cook meals for themselves and people who are on a health and wellness journey whether it be individuals who want to gain muscles, people who want to lose weight or individuals who have chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes and who want to manage their conditions,” she said. She does not only focus on healthy meal solutions. Her business model prioritises sourcing ingredients and fresh produce from growing businesses that adhere to organic practices rather than genetically modified products.
While her business has proved successful with many of her customers praising her meal plans, Mavimbela admits that penetrating the market, building customer trust and raising brand awareness has not been easy. “People in my town are skeptical to place orders online because they want to come in and shop for individual meals. And the fact that my meals are packaged in [categories like] low carb, high protein, everyday balance and vegetarian, one cannot simply choose one meal item from [a single] basket,” she explained.
However, she was working on improving her offerings. Currently, Mavimbela has three employees working part-time and hopes to build her team to meet an increasing demand. She also plans on incorporating cooking classes into her business to change how people viewed healthy eating.
