With women's day first approaching, we are celebrating the women behind Chakula Tamu all week.

Chakula Tamu has been operating in Toronto for more than ten years now, feeding the community with organic East African food. The story behind the store is an interesting one. 

It began with one of the co-founders’ love for matooke. Matooke, also known as the East African Highland banana, is one of the staple foods of Uganda.

Grab yourself some matooke!

Having moved to Canada in 2006, Mrs. Mariam Luyombo began to import matooke to feed her craving for a taste of home. Slowly, she began to import more to cater to her family and friend’s needs as well. What started as importing a box of matooke for herself has turned into importing two tonnes a week. What started with a customer base of only her Ugandan community, has grown to include Kenyans, Indians, Tanzanians, Rwandese, Congolese, Canadians, Burundians and more.

What does Chakula Tamu mean to you?

Mariam: When I lived in Uganda, I always took it for granted that I could eat my favorite food, matooke, at any time. Until I moved to Canada and for the first time, I realized it was not just food. Matooke was important to me. Having access to it improved my life.

Food from your culture is comfort food. Food from parts of the world has a particular taste. The Ugandan pineapple does not taste like the pineapples grown here. Actually, someone once asked us to import sugar from back home! So, this business for me means I have access to the food I love.

As the business has grown, I also get a lot of satisfaction when I see my customer’s faces light up when they come to the store and see products from back home. It’s now bigger than just me. It’s also now about the community. And the relationships we have built. 

How has Chakula Tamu helped women in the community?

Mariam: To start with, a lot of women are the ones in charge of their kitchens at home, and many of us are happy knowing we are able to access food specialties from back home. Whether its spices or knowing there is some matooke in the fridge.

Pregnant women or women who just gave birth tend to have cravings for their comfort food, which in most cases is food they grew up eating like matooke. Our community has a lot of young women who are becoming parents and we love that we are able to provide that for them. Like my daughter was craving katogo the other day.

Additionally, we have customers (not just women) who have terminal illnesses and this type of organic food is all they eat.

We also work with women mainly in our supply chain. Our key buyer in Uganda is a woman. It’s important that we are providing extra income to the local farmers in Uganda, who are mainly women. We have women who wake up as early as 4a.m. to go to the farms in Kasese, to pick out which produce is suitable for export.

Chakula Tamu has become more than a place you buy food. People come here to socialize. To share with us. To share with one another. To share recipes. It’s more than just a grocery store. 

We will be giving away a basket of organic East African food matooke, baby bananas (ndizi), garden egg (ntula), and more! Be sure to follow us on Facebook/Instagram to participate.

Follow us on Instagram