Ido Lekota sat down with the founders of Mpintshi Yum
–Leigh and Lerato Walters-Miane–to find out how they are changing the nutrition game in South Africa
South Africa faces a “nutrition transition” where high rates of obesity coexist with under-nutrition, driven by changing diets often rich in processed, energy-dense foods but low in nutritional value.
Due to the country’s massive socio-economic disparities, many South Africans often prioritise affordability and taste over health when choosing foods. This results in rising chronic health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, which heavily strain the public healthcare system.
In comes Mpintshi Yum—a Cape Town-based culinary brand focused on promoting health, culture, and wellness through food. Their services include providing healthy, culturally-inspired meal solutions tailored to specific dietary needs such as keto, vegan, diabetic-friendly, and low-GI, delivered fresh to customers’ doors.
Mpintshi Yum also offer personal chef services for in-home dining and exclusive catering, emphasising wellness-focused, gourmet personalised menus. Additionally, they host African food dining experiences that immerse guests in traditional cuisine, storytelling, and music, often catering to tourism and community engagement.
The company’s corporate wellness programmes provide healthy food options and nutrition workshops aimed at fostering workplace wellness, boosting morale, and enhancing employee performance.
Overall, Mpintshi Yum blends culinary wellness with cultural richness, convenience, and community connection through diverse food experiences and services.
Behind this innovative venture are two sisters—Lerato and Leigh Waters-Maine.
Lerato is the co-founder and CEO of Mpintshi Yum. With a background in community engagement and a passion for holistic living, she bridges nutrition and wellness to make mindful eating accessible and culturally resonant. Her journey began with exploring the connection between mental health and nutrition, viewing food as a language of healing and connection.
Lerato champions the reclamation of African food heritage as a form of empowerment and self-care. She also serves as a head of sales and communication of Phoka M Holdings, a sustainability-focused company advancing innovative water resource solutions, reflecting her broader commitment to social impact and African innovation.
Co-founder Leigh’s responsibilities include shaping Mpintshi Yum’s vision and mission to promote wellness through culinary innovation with an African cultural focus.
She is actively involved in creating healthy meal solutions for people with specific dietary needs. Her role also includes driving the company’s initiatives to create nutritious, culturally-inspired dining experiences.
Leigh is also CEO Phoka M Holdings. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Interdisciplinary Arts, with research focused on cultural reclamation and post-colonial identity expression in contemporary creative practices.
The sisters’ journey began as a deeply personal one—both living with separate chronic illnesses, they grew frustrated with expensive medications and turned to food as a natural form of healing.
After extensive research into diet, gut health, indigenous African herbs, and through the guidance of traditional herbalists, they began transforming their own lives through mindful eating—and soon discovered a purpose far greater than themselves: to help others heal through food.
The name Mpintshi, meaning ‘friend’ in isiZulu and isiXhosa slang, captures the brand’s essence of friendship, nourishment, and community care. What started as a personal wellness experiment has evolved into a movement toward mindful living, expressed through healthy meals, cultural dining experiences, and wellness education.
For Lerato, the inspiration to start Mpintshi Yum arises from her curiosity about how nature mirrors human well-being.
“From an early age, I was drawn to gardening and understanding how plants behave—their seasons, moods, the quiet language about their growth, and most importantly their healing properties. This understanding let me to exploring accessible and organic ways to support mental wellness through what I eat, having had to find alternative ways to counter high and rising costs of medical treatment.
“Mpintshi Yum was born from the desire to bring passion to the public by merging culinary creativity with mindful living. It’s about making nutrition accessible while honouring African food heritage as a living art form and a tool for healing.”
Growing up with juvenile arthritis and later managing rheumatoid arthritis through years of steroids, Leigh started searching for organic, non-invasive ways to support her well-being.
What started as personal healing then evolved into a calling to create a brand that transforms how people experience nutrition and African culinary heritage—hence Mpintshi Yum.
The positioning of Mpintshi Yum as an innovative socially conscious venture is a reflection of the two young black female entrepreneurs’ conception of leadership. Which, according to Lerato, is “about inspiring others to live and work through their passion, to colour their decisions with the hues of their hearts and minds. It is about guiding people to use what they know and love as a means of uplifting themselves and other.
“In our company we lead by example through creativity, collaboration, and compassion thus empowering those around us to lead from where they stand.”
As Leigh further avers: “In Mpintshi Yum leadership is deeply intertwined with respect, intuition, and most importantly, knowing when to step forward and when to let others shines. To me leadership is about blending guidance with empathy, creating space for collaboration, and using your voice and influence to empower other while staying true to your principles – because leadership should challenge and uplift in equal measure.”
Challenges Faced by Black Female Entrepreneurs
In Lerato and Leigh’s experience, operating in a predominantly male industry comes with its own set of challenges, but being a black woman in a starkly unequal society adds another layer of complexity.
For example, as young female entrepreneurs they have faced ageism, gender bias, and the harsh reality of navigating limited access to financial support.
Generally, as the two sisters have come to learn, there is a constant expectation to over prove themselves, while on the other hand being objectified. At times the sister’s knowledge of agriculture and African food traditions (which are essentially part of their raw materials) has been questioned because they were adopted by a white family and raised in a suburban environment. But driven by their resilience the two sisters have taken these challenges head-on.
Rather than allowing these challenges discourage them they dig even deeper by seeking the mentorship from African food historians, traditional healers, community elders, and local farmers who carry the generational wisdom African food culture. Other barriers have been overcome by focusing on building credibility through knowledge and collaboration.
“We network extensively, and Mpintshi Yum has also built alliances with other SMMEs to strengthen its voice and presence. We equip ourselves with knowledge through books, radio, news, and mentorship, while maintaining strict work routines. Crucially, we’ve learned to set clear boundaries with potential partners, knowing when to say “yes” and when to say “no,” ensuring that our growth remains sustainable, focused, and aligned with our values,” posits Leigh .
Balancing Innovation with Authenticity
To stay grounded and maintain authenticity, Mpintshi Yum remains connected to the wisdom of African traditional healers from across the African continent.
“Their insights guide us in understanding the deeper spiritual and medicinal roles of ingredients, reminding us that food is both nourishment and medicine.
“For me, food is another form of artistic expression. ”
The same way I bring colour and emotion to a canvas, I express feeling through the way I blend spices, herbs, and aromas that evoke calm and connection,” states Lerato.
For Leigh, it begins with understanding the relationship between history, diet, and health. For example, in South Africa, there the history of how colonial legacies have shaped eating habits, from the imposition of refined pap to the export of our best organic produce, leaving local communities underserved.
“To counter this, we’ve partnered with local farmers and herbalists to reintroduce authentic, nutrient-rich ingredients into our menus. Our dishes reflect a farm-to-plate philosophy, infused with both cultural memory and contemporary creativity.
“Our approach integrates creative plating, fusion of flavours, and the incorporation of herbalist practices, embracing the farm-to-plate philosophy to ensure that every dish celebrates both cultural heritage and holistic wellness. We honour ancestral knowledge while reimagining how it can serve modern wellness.”
The Role Sustainability and Technology in Mpintshi Yum Business Model
“Sustainability is central to our ethos. We operate on a full-circle responsibility chain: turning food waste into compost, donating our used oil to be converted into bio-gas, using recyclable and compostable packaging, and sourcing locally from small farmers,” explains Lerato.
“Technology helps us operate smarter and cleaner. From AI-assisted carbon footprint tracking to virtual team collaboration, we embrace tools that improve efficiency while remaining mindful of their environmental cost. As Africa enters the digital revolution, Mpintshi Yum notes that there is a clear need to adopt innovation strategically, ensuring that progress doesn’t come at the expense of our ecological and social wellbeing,” Leigh points out.
Community and Customer Engagement to Promote Wellness
Community engagement is the heartbeat of Mpintshi Yum. The company host wellness talks both free and at a corporate level, it offers personal consultations, and collaborative events with religious and educational institutions.
These are safe spaces for honest conversations about food, mental health, and spiritual balance.
“We see food as the starting point, a bridge to deeper discussions about how we live, think, and care for ourselves and others,” explains Lerato. “For us, food is only the entry point. True wellness begins with education, empathy, and community,” adds Leigh.
Defining Moments Shaping Mpintshi Yum Vision
For both Lerato and Leigh a defining moment was discovering that their first catering order was being delivered to a homeless shelter.
Designing that menu required them to think differently: to cook with sensitivity, care, and deep respect for the bodies receiving the food. While their dishes already focused on anti-inflammatory ingredients, they had to balance flavour with gentleness, ensuring that the spices and herbs supported rather than shocked the homeless’ digestive systems.
Since then, as Mpintshi Yum the pair has expanded its efforts, including cooking for the homeless in Cape Town. In that regard they have partnered with their first customer to run monthly food drives at key hotspots, which have now evolved into weekly initiatives.
Rather than letting surplus food go to waste, they maximize every ingredient to create nourishing meals, turning leftovers into an opportunity to serve and uplift local communities.
Scaling Strategies and Advice for Upcoming Entrepreneurs
From the two sisters point of view, their growth has come from partnership, adaptability as well as strategies rooted in clarity, structure and collaboration.
This also entails working with clear goals and motivations, sticking to a disciplined routines that ensures consistency.
For them, having two co-founders also allow them to delegate responsibility effectively, ensuring that every aspect of business is managed with focus. Regularly attending markets and conducting product testing, while seemingly tedious, has been invaluable for collecting data and refining their menu to meet customer needs.
“Our growth has come from partnership and adaptability. We are not afraid to collaborate with other small businesses, share audiences, and grow together. Listening to our customers through constant interviews helps us understand when to pivot or refine our offerings,” explains Lerato
“For young entrepreneurs, my biggest advice is: protect your energy. Take care of your mind and body as they are your most valuable assets. Stay curious, stay humble, and absorb wisdom from every direction, even when it challenges your initial plans.”
“For aspiring young entrepreneurs, I’d say: don’t fear rejection, every “no” is a lesson and an invitation to adapt and return stronger. Test your products, trust your process, and remember that burnout doesn’t equal brilliance. Growth comes from steady, mindful consistency,” adds Leigh.
The future of African culinary entrepreneurship contribution to broader socio-economic development?
Lerato views African culinary entrepreneurship as, “a reclamation movement creating opportunities for those who intimately understand the land and hold knowledge that has historically been suppressed or systematically stripped away.”
For her, reintroducing ancestral wisdom about nutrition, cultivation, and traditional agricultural practices equips communities to reclaim Africa’s farming and food systems, paving the way for a renaissance of land ownership and cultural reclamation.
“Supporting the growth of the African culinary space also transforms what appears on our supermarket shelves, opening business opportunities for indigenous communities and entrepreneurs to thrive. As these communities gain influence in both production and policy, African farmers and food producers will have a stronger voice in government, shaping economic development, agricultural practices, and decision-making. Ultimately, the revival of authentic African cuisine can become a powerful driver of socio-economic empowerment and cultural resurgence across the continent. It’s not just about food, it’s about sovereignty and the rebirth of African innovation.”
To Leigh, authentic African cuisine is a sleeping giant: rich in history, science, and spirituality.
“Yet, much of its potential remains underexplored. Our culinary heritage holds untapped value. I believe that as we reclaim and elevate indigenous culinary knowledge, we will unlock new sectors of growth: shaping not only what we eat but how we think about health, culture, and community—from education and tourism to agriculture and product innovation.
“African cuisine deserves global recognition not as ‘ethnic’, but as foundational to the world’s wellness narrative. Its revival will stimulate job creation, empower small farmers, and inspire a new generation of chefs, entrepreneurs, and researchers. In that renaissance lies not just food, but the reclamation of identity and economic power.”
Ido Lekota is a media practitioner and an independent socio-political commentator.
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