From blogging to social impact: How Joyce Gyebi is using food to change lives

With over a decade in the food industry, Ms Gyebi understands the nuts and bolts of the space and is committed to helping other women start their own food businesses or earn decent incomes within the industry. 

In an interview with The Mirror in Accra last Wednesday, she shared the beginnings of her journey, which started 12 years ago.

She recounted that after leaving a 10-year marketing career, she decided to explore food blogging. At the time, food blogging was not popular in Ghana, and everything she saw online came from people in other parts of the world. 

Initially, she tried her hand at every recipe she found online, but eventually focused on Ghanaian foods and ingredients.

“Along the way, I realised it would be more beneficial to learn about our ingredients and why we cook the way we do. The thing is, no matter how long you spend in another country learning about their food, there's a social, cultural, and economic connection to food that you may lack. So, I stopped cooking ‘spaghetti’ and all sorts of things, and concentrated on what I know and grew up with,” she explained.

Starting her blog on WordPress, she chose the name “Mukasechic”—"Mukase" meaning kitchen in her local dialect and “chic” reflecting the stylish way she carried herself and presented her work.

Ms Gyebi’s blogging style leaned more toward storytelling than simply sharing recipes, and in time, her blog and Instagram page became go-to sources for local food and recipes. 

Her passion for food led her to open her first café, “She Brews.” Interestingly, she operated the café like a typical one, serving standard café meals and drinks, rather than the dishes she blogged about.

“So, I would post on the blog and Instagram different meals from what we sold at the café. People would come in and ask for what they saw online, saying things like, ‘Oh, we want ‘angwa mo,’ we want ‘banku.’”

“Eventually, we became one of the first small restaurants serving local foods, offering desserts like ‘agbeli kaaklo,’ ‘kuli kuli,’ ‘kube toffee,’ and related items. We even had to change the name to reflect what we offered,” she said.

From blogging and selling local meals, Ms Gyebi has expanded her involvement in the food industry, both in Ghana and internationally. For her, aside from the influence of faith, what has kept her in the industry is her willingness to learn and research.

“I talk to a lot of market women and street food vendors, especially women, and I get a lot of tips from them. Even now, I still learn from them, which is how I’ve continued to improve. I also take many culinary courses, both online and offline, and make sure I attend international food events to stay updated on my craft,” she said.

Like many young entrepreneurs, she has faced challenges with staffing, sourcing food supplies, and securing investment. But she’s thankful for the many opportunities she has found through food.

“By God’s grace, I can always reinvent myself. We live in a society where, when you create something, you’re not given the time to enjoy it. People are always copying or chasing after what you’ve done. It’s flattering, but it means you always have to keep changing and evolving.

“But cooking has opened many doors for me. I’ve met amazing people. I cooked for the former CEO of Twitter when he was in Ghana, met Kamala Harris through my work, cooked for the President, and travelled to various parts of the world, still doing the same thing,” she said.

Although she appreciates the chance to work for or meet high-profile personalities, her greatest joy comes from the smiles of the children she serves through her non-profit outfit.

In addition to training underprivileged women, Culinary for Social Change also runs a hot meals project, providing underprivileged children with meals once a month.

“The joy on their faces when they open the packs is priceless. Sadly, people often treat free food like it’s a scraps, so expectations can be low. But when these children see the meals, they are amazed, and that feeling is something I truly love.

Sometimes, a child will come up to me and say, ‘Oh, madam, are you the one with the food? Thank you so much, God bless you.’ And I know they mean it not just because it’s food, but because they truly appreciate the gesture,” she noted.

Ms Gyebi currently collaborates with organisations that help select the schools for her initiative. She hopes to partner with municipal assemblies in the future.

As for the women she trains, her hope is that they seize the opportunity to hone their skills and either earn better wages or set up their own niche food businesses.

Earlier this month, she was announced as part of the eighth cohort of VV Visionaries by Vital Voices Global Partnership in collaboration with the Estée Lauder Emerging Leaders Fund for her work with Culinary for Social Change.

The VV Visionaries programme supports trailblazing women by enhancing their access to leadership training and the networks that sustain them. 

Together with the Estée Lauder Emerging Leaders Fund, the programme champions women leaders across various sectors who aim to create positive social impact in their communities and beyond.

Asked what advice she would give to a young person starting a food business, she said, “Do your homework and make sure the business model will work. 

Don’t start a business because you think someone else is making money or because you see lots of customers in someone else’s restaurant. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes.”
 
Writer’s email: efiaamoakoa2@gmail.com