Epworth’s Edible Innovation: Turning Masawu and Millet Into Premium Treats

One of the Vaniq Foods Products (image source)

On a modest street in Overspill, Epworth, a 28-year-old food scientist is redefining how Zimbabwe tastes tradition. Vanicola Chambwera, born and raised in the township, has quietly built a micro-brand that transforms indigenous crops—masawu (wild loquat), finger millet (rukweza), and other heritage staples—into ice creams, samosas, cookies, and cakes that feel both nostalgic and aspirational.

Though still a small operation, Chambwera’s work carries outsized implications for nutrition, climate resilience, and rural incomes. His creations first caught national attention after broadcasters profiled his masawu ice cream and millet-based bakes—products he frames as “proof that local can be luxury.” In online clips, Chambwera demonstrates his process: stabilising high-pectin wild fruit for smooth texture, balancing millet’s earthy tones with dairy fats and natural sweeteners, and using Zimbabwean spice blends in savoury pastries. His fundamental question is simple: what if the flavours of home could also be the flavours of aspiration?

Nutrition Meets Climate Logic

The timing is on his side. Nutritionists have long urged greater consumption of millets, particularly finger millet, which is rich in micronutrients and has a lower glycaemic load than refined maize meals. Climate scientists also note that millets are more tolerant to heat and erratic rainfall—an essential hedge for southern Africa in the face of climate change.

By embedding these crops into desirable foods, Chambwera is creating demand alongside supply. Consumers, he believes, will pay for delight, and nutritional benefits can ride along. His work reframes indigenous crops not as fallback staples for the poor, but as aspirational foods that can compete with imported brands.

Scaling a Micro-Business

Yet the leap from micro-manufacturing to sustainable enterprise is steep. Chambwera faces challenges such as inconsistent raw materials—wild-harvested masawu is seasonal and variable in quality—licensed cold-chain requirements for dairy, and packaging that protects texture without driving up costs. Expanding distribution beyond weekend pop-ups into cafés, school canteens, and supermarkets will require scale, investment, and regulatory compliance.

Government support could make the difference. Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises could broker food-safety training, support permits, and provide grants for micro-equipment. Development partners, meanwhile, could help organise farmer collectives to steward and domesticate masawu stands, ensuring both quality and sustainable supply.

Beyond the Plate

The upside extends beyond the culinary. If Epworth’s brand of “agro-chic” catches on, rural gatherers could earn fairer prices for wild fruits traditionally treated as informal sidelines. Rising demand for millet could spur agronomists and seed firms to develop higher-yield, flavour-forward varieties. University food-science labs could partner on research into shelf-life stability and natural plant-based additives—like baobab or gum arabic—as affordable alternatives to imports. Each link strengthens the local value chain, creating ripple effects for communities and the economy.

Balancing Authenticity and Growth

Chambwera’s greatest test may be preserving authenticity while professionalising. That means transparent labelling (“masawu content,” “whole-grain millet”), third-party microbiological testing, and a brand narrative that avoids reducing “African flavour” into cliché. Pricing strategies will also matter: premium pints for urban supermarkets, affordable mini-cups for school tuck shops, and frozen mix-ins for cafés eager to tell an Epworth story on their menus.

Zimbabwe has always had a food culture of invention. What is new is a generation blending lab skills with ancestral crops, and social media with street-level sales. If Chambwera can navigate the grind of permits, procurement, and packaging, his masawu swirls and millet cookies may become more than local novelties. They could be case studies in how small food science enterprises pivot economies toward abundance.

For a community too often reduced to poverty headlines, Epworth’s flavour of innovation is a story worth spreading.