Food - The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival

ROOTS

Planting our feet firmly in the soil, we explore gifts of the land, unearthing the power of plants and free to roam meats as a sustaining source of health and heritage. We uncover the staple foods and age-old cooking techniques that keep us rooted in who we are. Roots is also about cultivating authentic partnerships with conscious brands that look to showcase versatility, identity and prestige of their otherwise overlooked products that advance livelihoods at the grassroots.

LUJU FOOD INDABA

After a successful inaugural edition of the Standard Bank Luju Food & Fashion Indaba, House On Fire and Standard Bank Eswatini will once again reinforce their joint commitment towards developing Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and creative industries in Eswatini's culinary sector in the 2025 edition.

The Food Indaba invites applications for attendance from culinary industry influencers and food enthusiasts, including aspiring and established restaurateurs, chef associations, relevant industry regulators, health practitioners, food retailers, suppliers and distributors, producers and farmers for a day of knowledge sharing, capacity development and culinary demosntrations.

Applications for the second edition of the Food Indaba will open in 2025.

COMPETITION

PICK N PAY Luju Cook-Off

Congratulations to Justina Bain and King Terry for making it to the finals of the Pick N Pay Luju Cook-Off! We look forward to seeing them go head-to-head live at 11am Saturday 1st October in the House On Fire Amphitheatre at the festival. Finalists were selected through a combination of an instore pre-cookoff activation and public voting process on social media.

At the Festival, celebrity food enthusiast Somizi Mhlongo will lead an Afro-Fusion cooking showcase using 100% PnP Luju Pantry ingredients. Drawing inspiration from the celebrity showcase, the finalists will be challenged to recreate the gourmet dish, adding their own African flair, in a bid to win the title of PnP Luju Cook-Off Master Chef. Over E20,000 worth of prizes to be won!

Programme

LUCY CORNE [ZA]

Lucy Corne, popularly known as The Brewmistress, is the editor of On Tap magazine and the co-founder of the African Beer Cup. She is also a blogger and author with a tendency to occasionally taste some beer. Lucy is Africa’s first certified cicerone (professional beer sommelier).

LORNA MASEKO [ZA]

Lorna Maseko is a South African chef, media personality and former ballet dancer. She competed in the Celebrity edition of MasterChef South Africa and discovered her passion for cooking in the process.

CHEF DOLORES [SZ]

Dolores Godeffroy is an ardent food activist, a farmer, restaurateur, business owner, fighter, and visionary. Her Zulu mother’s dedication to indigenous foods was a strong influence in her current vision of a nation, indeed a continent, that can feed itself.

SASKIA LESCH [ZA]

Saskia Lesch is the Regional Business Manager for KWV, a well-known South African wine and spirits company. KWV has a rich history, having distributed its brands globally since the 1920s1.

PICK N PAY LUJU COOK-OFF

Experience the heat as two finalists go head-to-head to win the coveted Pick n Pay Luju Cook-Off Master Chef title!

THE TATTOOED CHEF [ZA]

Vusi Kunene, commonly known as The Tattoed Chef, is a passionate hospitality expert and chef who started off as a car guard, became a waiter in the food industry and went on to start the first black-owned sushi bar in South Africa, The Blackanese.

LUJU FOOD INDABA

Luju invites culinary industry influencers and food enthusiasts to attend the inaugural Luju Food & Fashion Indaba!