It all started in the living room of their Cape Town cottage and it’s been a long hard slog, but for NoMU owners Tracy Foulkes and Paul Raphaelly it has been well worth the sweat.
In December 2001 Foulkes tested some concept products, including the exotic rubs that are synonymous with the brand today, for a deli she was planning. After overwhelmingly positive response for the products and brand from eight local delis, she was encouraged to try a few other ideas and put more attention and direction into building a brand.
“The business and its products have grown organically since then but always takes its cue from what Tracy wishes to have in her own kitchen,” says Raphaelly.
Before starting NoMU, Foulkes was a caterer and Raphaelly worked in advertising. “Neither of us was prepared for running a business like NoMU, so we are learning the ropes as we go along.
“Initially there were just over 10 products created in our kitchen and front room. This lasted for about a year and every now and then we would be sitting on the floor in the lounge, labelling, filling and boxing products to send out urgently.”
From there the couple moved to a small warehouse space in Woodstock where the range matured to include 20 different spice rubs, a dipper product (NoMU Egyptian Dukkah) and also seven grinders. During this period their export market began to pick up. Their first markets were UK, Norway, Denmark and Holland.
To cope with the ever expanding demand for their products, NoMU then moved to formal warehousing in Cape Town’s Airport Industria. The export business continued to grow and they added even more products. “The addition of these products brought us back to where we had always wanted to be positioned, which is a brand that allows anyone to use simple products to produce gourmet results anywhere and anytime.”
Find good suppliers
Asked about the importance of finding good suppliers, Raphaelly answers: “NoMU prides itself on its quality and its consistency. We would never expect anyone to eat anything we weren’t prepared to eat a lot of ourselves. I think this goes quite a way to explaining how particular we are as a company in the selection of our suppliers and the final quality of our products. I think this attitude has brought with it an enormous set of challenges in terms of finding the suppliers and then making sure the quality levels are always kept up. We are also always trying to find new ways to improve our range to ensure the healthiest, most convenient and attractive end product possible.”
Marketing
Another vitally important function of any retail product is marketing.
Foulkes and Raphaelly believe that if your final product and packaging is of great quality, the product should naturally market itself and convince consumers over time. Although they admit that this is not a strategy that works overnight, they emphasise that in the absence of marketing or advertising budgets, the product has to be able to fight effectively for itself on shelf. At NoMU a great amount of time and attention has gone into getting this right.
Ensure quality and consistency
Praise and acknowledgement for their products followed financial and export success with NoMU’s Vanilla Paste winning a prestigious International Design award (the SIAL Grand Prix Coup de Coeur) for the category of ‘Excellence and Innovation in Packaging and Design’.
Keep innovating
What advice does this foodie duo have for people considering starting their own food businesses? “In food, I’d always advise anyone to not try and sell the consumer anything they aren’t prepared to eat themselves. Try and innovate as well. It’s easier to stand out when you have something completely new to talk about.”
Lastly, always try to look out for quality and consistency. “A modern consumer will swap your product in a heartbeat if it ever disappoints. Contemporary packaging is imperative to have stand-out appeal.”
* This is an extract of an article that first appeared in Your Business Magazine.
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