South Africa's V&A Waterfront pushes ahead with incubator featuring local food, culture

The V&A Waterfront at night. Picture: Coastal Property Group.

The V&A Waterfront at night. Picture: Coastal Property Group.

Published Jul 29, 2020

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JOHANNESBURG - Cape Town shopping mall V&A Waterfront said on Wednesday it was pushing ahead with a plan to develop a R63 million (US$3.8 million) multi-use facility featuring South African food and culture and expected to create new jobs.

In a statement, it said Maker's Landing was the next phase of an overarching plan to develop the Cape Town Cruise Terminal area.

“Maker’s Landing will be an inspiring, edgy space for new food concepts and ideas to flourish in the spectacular setting of an active port, with its dramatic backdrop of Table Mountain," V&A Waterfront chief executive officer David Green said.

"It will capture the rich story of South African cultures, foods, flavours and food producers for locals to enjoy and for visitors to discover. We are re-purposing what was a cold storage facility into a food incubator that will generate in excess of 150 much needed jobs and will build connections between foodpreneurs.”

V&A Waterfront said given the seasonality of the cruise industry the development, a partnership with the National Treasury’s Jobs Fund, would encourage year-round activity in the port area.

“We came across this idea internationally, having seen the success of food incubators in providing food at accessible pricing and creating jobs," Green said.

"We are incubating opportunities on a platform that lends itself to year-round operation, offering food at very accessible prices, with the opportunity to turbo charge interest during peak tourism season when local and international visitors flock to the Western Cape."

“When we presented our plans to the Jobs Fund, they saw the same potential for job creation and skills development as we did. There is an obvious synergy between our vision for Makers Landing and the Jobs Fund mission, so we are really pleased to be partnering with them," Green added.

The head of the Jobs Fund, Najwah Allies-Edries said the V&A Waterfront provided a perfect environment for caterers, local producers and quality food start-ups to grow their businesses efficiently and easily under the guidance of seasoned professionals in an already highly successful commercial space.

"Partnerships like this one demonstrate the immeasurable value of assembling the right partnership ecosystem, skills and resources. It is these intangibles that are fundamental in equipping and empowering SMMEs (small, medium and micro enterprises) to overcome hurdles to development while effectively accessing real market opportunities,” Allies-Edries added.

Construction of the facility was delayed by a nationwide lockdown aimed at slowing down transmissions of Covid-19, but the development team is confident it will complete the structure September, followed by interior work to fit in a shared incubator kitchen, a demo kitchen, eight maker production stations, a food market with approximately 35 flexible market stands, eight small co-op eateries and five anchor restaurants of various sizes.

Maker's Landing is expected to open to the public in December.

- African News Agency (ANA)

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