BY PHUMELELE GAMEDZE (Intern)
MANZINI – Thirty Food and Nutrition learners drawn from 30 schools across the country have converged at William Pitcher College for the two day Premier Future Foodies Camp, a youth empowerment initiative aimed at transforming culinary talent into viable business ventures.
The programme, hosted by JA Eswatini in partnership with Premier Eswatini, is designed to equip young learners with practical entrepreneurship knowledge, innovation skills and food production expertise to help them build sustainable enterprises in the country’s growing food sector. The annual initiative is part of Premier Eswatini’s broader youth empowerment drive and has now benefited about 600 learners in the past four years.
Speaking during the session , Premier Eswatini representative Mfundo Dlamini said the programme is not only about cooking, but about teaching learners to think like business owners from the very beginning.
“We are teaching them to be innovative with Premier products and show them that food can become a business. We want these young people to look beyond the kitchen and see opportunities in the market,” said Dlamini.
He explained that the first day of the camp focuses on theory, where learners are introduced to core business fundamentals such as identifying a target market, marketing products, pricing, cost calculation and budgeting.
“They are being taught how to sell, who to sell to, how to market their products and how to budget so that when they start, they start with business discipline,” he said.
Dlamini said the second day will shift to practical training where learners will prepare meals and baked products using Premier ingredients before proceeding to the Market Day scheduled for May 9, where participants will publicly showcase and present their products before judges.
“After the practicals they will go to Market Day where they will exhibit, pitch and compete. From there we select a winner, but beyond winning we are creating future business people who will change the perspective of entrepreneurship in this country,” he added.
He noted that the company has already started receiving encouraging feedback from former participants, some of whom have since launched small food enterprises after attending the camp.
One such testimony came from Siphiwe Lukhele of St. Paul’s High School, a former contestant who addressed this year’s participants and urged them to take the competition seriously as it can open doors beyond the classroom.
“When we entered this competition, we managed to win second prize of E5 000 and that motivated us to start our own baking business. So I want these learners to know that this is not just a school activity, it can really change your future,” said Lukhele.
She encouraged learners to use the platform to sharpen both their confidence and creativity, saying the experience taught her team how to convert cooking skills into income.
The camp also reflects JA Eswatini’s long running mission of empowering youth through entrepreneurship, financial literacy and innovation focused business development, with the organisation continuing to position schools as breeding grounds for self employment and enterprise creation.
As aprons tied and notebooks opened at William Pitcher College, the atmosphere on day one signaled more than a cooking workshop it marked the beginning of what organisers hope will be Eswatini’s next generation of bold, innovative and market ready food entrepreneurs.
#PremierFutureFoodies2025 #PremierEswatini #YouthEntrepreneurship #FutureFoodiesCamp
