SA cuisine starts to cook up a storm in Colombia

“Hola, Howzit, Buenos Días SAPeople!” says SA expat Sacha Dennaro. “Welcome to the start of South African cuisine in Colombia.”

Thanks to Sacha, SA food – particularly biltong and boerewors – is starting to take off in Colombia, South America. With a twist! “With less than 50 South Africans in Colombia, we have had to partially reinvent how biltong & boerewors are enjoyed, or even called,” says Sacha.

His business, Don Biltong Gourmet – co-founded with Colombian wife Marcela – is a dream come true. The first commercially run biltong business in Colombia.

After spending 20 years living in New York city, London, Western Europe and Brazil, Sacha – who hails from Ladysmith in northern KZN – moved to Colombia in 2021 with Marcela.

They began their business in Salento (“a spectacular place” worth googling, with its Cocora valley), and have now moved to Medellin which is “by far the best city to enjoy Colombian life”. Plus Medellin is packed with expats who make up 60% of the company’s customer market. 

The challenge has been enticing Colombians to try this new cuisine. Historically, Colombians as a food nation are “mostly closed off”, explains Sacha. “Due mostly to their recent suppressive past, they are ‘new’ to the world. It’s a generational thing that is positively changing.”

Over time Don Biltong Gourmet has introduced a boerewors ‘arm’ to the business (2022), and scaled up the business to be food safety certified, broadened their product range and even “gotten onto our first restaurant menu”.

In July they hosted their second boerewors feature as a special on a menu at a sweet little place in Manila called Poblado Medellin; and by the end of this month they will move into their production hub.

Their pop-up restaurant is called LEKKERS, and their first event was a sell-out! “Over 50 people got to try a boerewors roll, of course with a Colombian twist,” says Sacha. “We called it Choripan Sud Africano. The first time boerewors was available on a menu in Colombia, and quite possibly South America!”

A chilli version has also been launched to give customers an option between traditional or spicy. 

But it’s not just about making delicious tastes. Like many South Africans, Sacha is an entrepreneur with his eye on the business.

“To scale up further, we need to raise our profile. Growing our instagram is pivotal to this. From then we need influencers in food, grill masters , fitness trainers, cycling and endurance athletes as well as the hiking market to review and endorse us. We’re under no illusion, we are in for the long-long game!

“Having studied the business model for Biltong and Boerewors in NYC, LA, Florida, Texas, Canada, the UK, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and even South East Asia, they have all had a core base of Saffas to begin from. Colombia doesn’t fit that mould. So we we are trying to innovate, and are proud to represent the country and flag as best we can.

“Our journey is just beginning and we’d love the help and support of South Africa to help us grow.”

Sacha admits “starting a new business in Colombia isn’t easy. Starting it in a new country, on a new continent (my 4th continent to live in) and trying to learn a new language in it is another challenge”; but with his vision to introduce biltong and boerewors to Colombia becoming a reality, he says “dreams really do come true”… and adds that “none of it possible without the incredible wife – Marce  my angel!” Her trying biltong for the first time was one of the inspirations for starting their business…

Follow / Visit and Support Sacha and Marcela at:

• FB: https://www.facebook.com/DonBiltongGourmet
• FB: https://www.facebook.com/DonBoereworsGourmet
• Insta: https://www.instagram.com/donbiltonggourmet/
• Insta: https://www.instagram.com/donboereworsgourmet/

If you are a South African living and abroad, we’d love to hear your story. Send to: jen@sapeople.com