Tasty Kitchen Collective

Tasty Island Treats began as a social enterprise selling Fiji’s first fresh fruit ice pops made from locally-sourced ingredients. Whilst building her business, founder Nakita Bingham-Irvin observed that the majority of women food entrepreneurs in the Pacific, including herself, operate informally, and are stuck working from small spaces preventing them from scaling. Food entrepreneurs are especially affected by the high costs of commercial kitchen space, and lack access to education in entrepreneurship. 

Nakita saw this problem intensify after the borders closed at the start of the pandemic, when many of those working in the Fiji tourism industry became unemployed, turning to food entrepreneurship as a means of making a living. In response to this boom, Nakita decided to expand her enterprise by creating Tasty Kitchen Collective (TKC), a platform designed to enable and facilitate food innovation in Fiji. TKC is a co-share commercial kitchen that can be rented out at an affordable cost allowing start-ups to access a licenced food production kitchen without the need for huge investment costs. TKC will also provide its members with services to make market access easier. These services will include an online store, social media marketing and sales services, organised pop-up food events and a delivery service. 

The funding and technical assistance provided through the SFI Response Program supported Nakita in establishing a strong foundation for her new venture to grow from. She received legal advice in forming the company, training for her staff, acquired necessary equipment, developed marketing collateral, and gained exposure by launching her new venture at a ‘Celebrating Fijian Food Innovation and Enterprise’ event that was hosted at the Australian High Commission. She now has an operational commercial space and 7 women-led enterprises in the pipeline to use her kitchen.

Business coaching and mentoring to support them in developing a 3-5 year growth plan