Gutsy Green: SA startup to make cooking easy

Having to decide what you’re having for supper after a long day at work is an absolute pain. With the majority of people not being professional chefs, going through the hassle of choosing a nice restaurant and then gawking at the bill afterwards is an expensive endeavour.

While the South African startup tech scene sees numerous fintech, edtech, and agritech companies launching each year, it’s not often we see companies based around food. Popping up this month, Gutsy Green is a startup that’s aiming to help SA families and couples cook pre-planned restaurant-style food.

Ventureburn had a chance to speak to one of its co-founders, Kyle Moore, about the new startup and what it brings to the table.

Gutsy Green, the idea and company

The idea is a simplistic one: an online ‘store’ where customers can order a gourmet meal in advance, and then have it delivered with all of the ingredients and instructions on how to create it.

It’s true that the idea isn’t new, even to the local market with the likes of UCOOK, Daily Dish, and DayToDay, though Kyle is confident the startup has enough to set the company apart from the competition.

Besides the presentation that goes into each meal package, which Gutsy Green sees as a core part of their offering, Moore says that something else sets the company apart: “Our prices. Our prices are cheaper than all of the competition in SA. Coupled with a higher quality product and cheaper pricing than our competition, these are our two clear differences. We are able to do this through the profits of our other company.”

Gutsy Green was co-founded by Kyle and his wife, Carla-Mari Moore, who is the chef out of the two of them. She completed a BA Humanities degree at Stellenbosch and an International Chefs degree from SACA. Since then, Carla-Mari was head chef at several well-known Cape Town restaurants and opened Gutsy Tutoring with Kyle.

The pair self-funded the startup from the Gutsy Tutoring profits.

The launch, not lunch

Launching Gutsy Green has been a long process. The initial idea came about in April 2016, and besides finding the right offices and warehouse for expansion, the tech behind the company was a problem.

Read more: Smorgasbord is the food startup incubator you’ve been waiting for

“One of the hardest parts was the website and to get everything fully functional without any coding experience. This included secured online payments and subscriptions. Juggling time and finding the time between the two businesses was a big one. We learnt to get managers in very quickly in the tutoring business so we could put time into Gutsy Green.”

The edible business offerings

For now, the startup will offer classic, low-carb (and banting), as well as vegetarian options for their meals. Each week, Gutsy Green creates 11 new recipes, which consists of four classic, four low-carb, and three vegetarian selections. The system works by allowing low-carb customers to select any of the 11 recipes.

“If you don’t feel like choosing your recipes, we will deliver the pre-selected recipes based on the meal plan you have chosen. If you choose Veg Menu, we will send you only these recipes,” though Kyle adds that customers won’t be able to substitute vegetation options.

Carla-Mari is the one who creates all of the meal options for the customers. “The dishes are created and decided by our chef Carla. She gets inspired by various magazines, TV shows, high profile chefs and then creates her own spin on things. Carla likes to create her own recipes based on the seasonal ingredients in SA so expect some magical recipes.”

When Ventureburn ask about more diet options, such as Halaal or gluten-free options, Kyle said there were not immediate plans for them.

“If there is demand for the above then we will consider it. We are however planning to launch a bachelor’s/solo box for all the single professionals out there.”

When asked about expansion, aside from soon launching in Johannesburg and Pretoria, Kyle said: “There are a few plans in the pipeline this year. We will be updating you on them soon.”

Cape Town is known for its after-work cocktails, nights out, and food all-around. It will be interesting to see how Gutsy Green not only competes with its direct competition, but customer mindsets as well.