Over a couple of years, Teddy Osula sharpened his snack-making skills but hadn’t quite gathered the courage to announce to the world.
He would from time to time allow friends and neighbours devour his crispy samosas, layered chapatis, mouthwatering mahamri and tender spring rolls.
Then the push started. Those who sampled the snacks wanted the world to know about them.
“They (customers) insisted referrals were limiting and that I should make a point of posting my products on Twitter,” says Mr Osula (left), the proprietor, Tayari Snacks.
Within hours of posting photos under the ‘iko kazi’ thread on Twitter, the likes and orders started trickling in.
This catapulted the 42-year-old business administration graduate into preparing snacks at a commercial level.
Since starting in 2016, he has employed three riders to assist in the delivery of snacks to his customers in kinoo, Kikuyu, Ngong Road, Mombasa Road, Ngumo, Kileleshwa and Syokimau.
“The most popular orders are samosas, mahamris and chapatiss,” says the Griffins College graduate.
The food can be delivered cooked or raw/half cooked, based on the customer’s desire.
For the uncooked orders, he uses the plastic tins for deliveries while for the cooked ones, he uses the khaki paper. The Khaki paper he notes is good at maintaining taste and quality of food.
He recently expanded the menu to include fish fingers and flavoured chapati. The flavours include garlic, carrot, onion, hoho and butternut.
“My clients like my fish fingers because they are not soggy and aren’t oily,” he says.
Aside from the daily orders, he supplies breakfast to two upmarket offices in Nairobi.
When he is not servicing orders, he is handling parties at offices or homes — birthdays, baby showers and anniversaries.
His typical day kicks off at 4am where he starts preparing the snacks and breakfast at Café Jamhuri, which he co-owns.
With a monthly net income of Sh60,000 and with a growing customer base, Mr Osula says the possibility of expanding the business are inevitable.
“I invested Sh5,000 when I started and look where I am today. My immediate plan is to deliver my snacks in the whole of Nairobi,” he says.
The stronghold for Tayari Snacks — which takes on international brands such as KFC and Debonairs — is quality tasty African snacks delivered on time.
To ensure quality is maintained, Mr Osula adheres to strict ingredient portions, preparation and cooking times.
“Further, I personally make deliveries to new clients which offers me an opportunity to talk to them about our products and services,” he says.
He credits his passion for tasty food to his mother whom he used to watch prepare meals growing up.
He says when he decided to give the cooking venture a serious go, everything fell into place thanks to the passion and good customer service skills he applied.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
