Granger Bay Hotel School with
a diploma in Food & Beverage
Management, Elizabeth landed an
internship with Lombardi Foods
(now called In2food) – a factory
that produces food for Woolworths.
She went on to work for three
different catering companies as
a manager, overseeing food
requirements and other managerial
duties, so she knew exactly what
it entailed.
aking gluten-free
products, however,
was a whole new
ball game; one
that really put
Elizabeth’s skills to the test. She
had ‘about 10 million’ ideas and
spent hours testing products
before she perfected her recipes.
‘We were supplying a couple
of Spars, just here and there to
test the market. Then one of our
products went completely viral.’
The star product? Her pasta for
Banters. ‘Everyone grew up eating
pasta, so when people change
to LCHF, they start looking for
alternatives to the foods they
enjoyed before. After much
difficulty finding such a product
myself, I thought, “Why don’t
I just make it?” Everyone was
contacting us, asking where they
could find it, and among them
there was a woman who worked
for Checkers. She contacted one
of their buyers and said, “You
have to stock this product!”
‘We were stocked by Checkers
quite early in our career and that
really was our turning point. As a
small company it is really helpful
to get your name out there; it
was really a stepping stone for
us.’ Elizabeth doesn’t want to
mess with a winning recipe, so
products are
gluten-free, sugar-free and
perfect for Banters. But they
are also handmade without
any preservatives, additives or
colourants – they even mill their
own nut and seed
flours to ensure no
valuable nutrients
are lost.
Elizabeth and
her wife Frances,
who works in sales,
marketing and
distribution for the
growing company,
are justifiably proud
of what they’ve
accomplished with
Gracious Bakers. It’s been an
incredible journey, culminating
in their own factory store, in
partnership with Spar and in
association with The Noakes
Foundation: Eat Better South
Africa! ‘Our aim is to share our
love for baking and encourage
each and every person to join us
in following a healthy, wholesome
lifestyle,’ says Elizabeth. Qthe pasta has been
the same since
the beginning ...
Gracious Bakers
has now expanded its
range to include penne.
Today, Gracious Bakers holds a
Golden Status award – a Noakes
Foundation taste-tested stamp of
approval for banting, low-carb,
keto and Paleo products. The
biggest sellers are its biscuits
(chocolate, choc chip and vanilla)
and Seed and Buttermilk rusks.
The bakery also offers a wide
range of freshly baked goodies,
crackers, its famous
pasta and even hot
chocolate!
Because it’s a
small company,
Elizabeth is able
to be very hands-
on in all aspects
of production;
she and her team
check every single
product in the
production line.
And in terms of packaging and
ingredients, they prefer to keep it
simple. ‘People can relate to our
product because we still make it
in an old-school style, like your
grandmother used to,’ Elizabeth
explains. ‘Also, what is important
in eating healthy is using plain
ingredients that customers
can recognise.’ It goes without
saying that all Gracious BakersGracious Bakers
offers all the old
favourites, minus
the carbs.VOLUME 30 LOSE IT! 29