The cooking teacher
It wasn’t that Lou Bentley didn’t like her job as an IT business analyst. She loved working overseas in London, spending her lunchtimes strolling around markets and enjoying the buzz. She liked rolling out new systems and making sure all parts of the project were tracking as they should… it’s just she never felt as passionate about it as she did about food.
Lou, 39, and her husband Ant spent 12 years living in the UK and she worked at several large investment banks during that time. “It was great and I loved it, but a business in food has always sat in the back of my mind,” says Lou. “I remember working with guys who could barely boil an egg and who reheated ready meals every night for dinner. Having grown up cooking, I just found it so hard to comprehend, and always thought it would be great to teach people those skills, and ultimately a whole new way of living.”
That seed of an idea grew when the couple went to a cooking school in Thailand. They enjoyed it immensely and couldn’t shake the idea that maybe it was something they could make work in New Zealand.
“We came back home in 2003 and by that time I really knew I needed to further investigate this obsession with food,” recalls Lou. “I enrolled in the New Zealand School of Food and Wine and did an intensive four-month course in Christchurch. I loved every minute of it and realised that somehow this needed to be my career path.”
So when Ant got an offer to go back to the UK, Lou decided she wouldn’t return to investment banking but instead work as a chef. “It was this tiny place with two burners not much bigger than a phone box, in the middle of a building with no air conditioning and I was getting paid pretty poorly, but I loved it!”
However, when Lou fell pregnant the couple returned to Christchurch where Chloé, now eight, was born. Ant was working and Lou needed something to keep her sane while dealing with all the washing and feeding – so she cooked all week and sold the sauces, relishes, tarts and other produce she and a friend made at the farmers markets on the weekends.
After her second child, Oscar, now six, was born, the couple started looking in earnest at how to realise Lou’s dream of teaching people to cook. One day they went to Akaroa, around 80km from Christchurch on Banks Peninsula, and it all just clicked. “We both decided, let’s do it – this is the right place. With the water and the abundance of local produce it was perfect. And there was even a space to rent right on the waterfront. It was like it was meant to be.”
And so The Akaroa Cooking School opened on November 21, 2009. “Looking back, it was a crazy punt, a cooking school in a small seasonal town – the banks took a lot of convincing! They initially laughed in our faces when we applied for a loan, and we ended up having to get some support from family. But we just knew it was the right thing to do and somehow it would work out,” recalls Lou.
And it really did. Classes have grown in popularity and Lou was even approached to write a cookbook, Great Recipes for a Great Way of Life, which came out in 2014. People love the casual, fun but informative classes where they learn to cook a five-course meal and then eat it together with matching wines.
The 2011 earthquake did have an impact, and there were a tough few months when overseas guests stopped coming, but the Bentleys got creative, and engaged with local companies to offer team building. “It was nice to be able to work with groups who could come here and have a fun day and escape from the horror of their day-to-day lives in Christchurch,” Lou says.
“Akaroa sustained minimal damage so it gave them a sense of peace. We were also really touched at how much the local community stood by us and filled classes so we could keep going. And eventually things came right again. Especially after Lonely Planet named us one of the top 10 cooking schools in the world.”
The cooking school just keeps going from strength to strength, and the couple’s profile has grown – they recently appeared on the Good Morning show.
“We’d love to do more TV, mainly to showcase Banks Peninsula and the amazing producers all around us. I never get sick of talking about food and it’s so fantastic to have some of the best New Zealand has to offer right on our doorstep.”
Sophie Williamson and her gluten-free spread business Poppy and Olive.
The product developer
Like many teens straight out of school, Sophie Williamson didn’t really know what she wanted to do. An international business degree seemed a safe bet, as did a subsequent position as policy analyst in the Defence Force. But her calling was always food, and after three years of working within the military, she realised she couldn’t ignore it any longer.
“I took that job as it was a good grad position, and at that stage I never thought I could make a living out of the things I really loved doing,” says the 26-year-old. “I’ve always loved baking and cooking – as a coeliac, baking everything from scratch was part of my family’s everyday life. I hadn’t really contemplated that food could be my career too.”
It was Sophie’s partner, Cam, who sparked the flame that would eventually become her gluten-free business Poppy and Olive. He could see she was unhappy in her job and asked her what her passion was – what did she really want to do?
“I was being sarcastic when I replied ‘baking’, but then I thought, why not? The wheels started turning and all I could think about was how to make it happen.”
Sophie had always admired iconic Auckland bakery Little and Friday and decided to see if she could work there. Serendipitously a job was available – piping cream into doughnuts one day a week. This was particularly ironic given she can’t eat doughnuts. “It was pretty hilarious – I was working full time at the Defence Force and then getting up at 5am on a Saturday to work in a gluten-filled environment!”
Eventually a full-time position came up at the bakery and Sophie spent a few months learning as much as she could. She upskilled immensely, but also realised that it wasn’t what she wanted as a career – food was her passion but a bakery wasn’t the end goal.
She went travelling around Europe but didn’t find the inspiration she was looking for. On her return she trawled farmers markets looking for a niche – and, when talking to the manager of Howick Village Markets, she found one.
“The manager seemed particularly interested in my idea of nut butters, so that’s what I did; gluten-free baking and nut butters, which I had been making at home for quite some time already. It wasn’t glamorous as I had to work in a café for minimum wage while I was starting up, but I knew it was the right thing to do.”
In 2014 Sophie made the bold move to only sell the nut butters. She had become increasingly interested in health, and the refined sugar and butter in baking seemed more and more at odds with this direction. She loved the idea of decadent products that still had high nutritional value.
And interest just kept growing. Small shops approached her at the markets to see if they could stock Poppy and Olive, and she approached large gourmet retailer Farro Fresh. They knocked her back initially, but Sophie insisted on giving them samples to persuade them. Her product now not only sits proudly on their shelves, but those of Moore Wilson’s in Wellington and numerous other gourmet shops around New Zealand. To keep up with demand she makes around 300 jars of product a week, and is now selling gift packs.
“It’s been quite the ride; there have been moments when I’ve had total meltdowns, but I have no regrets,” says Sophie.
Next on the agenda is individual sachet servings for nut butter. Sophie loves the idea of being able to pop her product in a handbag or child’s lunchbox – and people are showing enthusiasm for the idea.
She’s not a billionaire yet, but she has no regrets about leaving her desk job to do something that has brought such personal satisfaction.
“I can’t believe I used to think it wasn’t possible to make money from what you love doing. It may be challenging, but doing something you’re passionate about makes those ups and downs easier to ride.”
Sally Gatting runs Gatting’s Events and Catering.
The Caterer
When Sally Gatting did her first catering job for a friend-of-a-friend’s 40th more than two decades ago, she knew she had found her calling. However, it would be some time later – and 12 years in non-food related roles – before that culinary dream would become a reality.
“I’ve always loved cooking, but saw it as a hobby,” says Sally, who now runs Gatting’s Events and Catering. “I studied horticulture but ended up in finance roles in the health services after university. I really enjoyed it. After six years working with the Waikato Health Board, I went on to work in a big hospital in London. Little did I know how useful all my experience in budgets and spreadsheets would become later!”
Sally returned to Auckland from the UK soon after becoming a mum to first- born Ben, now 18, and 18 months later gave birth to Will. Unfortunately her marriage broke down around this time, but the change of circumstance gave Sally the opportunity to work out her next move.
“I was on my own with young boys and I really wanted something flexible,” says the 50-year-old. “A food business seemed a natural progression; I had always loved making food for people, so I started catering for friends’ personal events and it grew from there.”
Word spread and bigger corporate events followed. Sally soon realised there was no turning back and she was now doing what she was always destined for. A chance discussion with a parent from Ben’s class expanded things further. This parent owned a large funeral home and needed a new caterer. They gave Gatting’s a go – and loved the results.
Within four years Sally had contracts for numerous other funeral homes and most of the cemeteries and crematoriums in Auckland. All her past financial and administration experience suddenly came in very handy. Before she knew it, she had gone from a one-woman band to a company with 60 employees.
“While we’ve gone on to expand into corporate events and weddings, I’m so glad we started mainly with funerals, as it taught us all so much about compassion and really making an event special and personal. It’s such a sad, difficult time and it’s so nice to know we’re able to do something to help families farewell their loved ones the way they want to. It’s a great privilege.
“The expansion into event catering has been exciting and we love all the special touches we can add to each different type of event. The whole team prides themselves on attention to detail and beautiful presentation.”
Some of Sally’s staff have now been with her for more than a decade. “I have been so lucky to be surrounded with such talented, loyal and clever people. Ten years later these women are still part of the expanded team and are great friends too.”
The funeral side of the business adds a complexity not found in other catering. When Gatting’s caters weddings or events there is usually plenty of notice, but of course funerals don’t generally come with lead time. Sally can be looking at a fairly relaxed week and then out of the blue have two or three funerals for 500 with three days’ notice. “It’s a pretty unique business,” says Sally. “Sometimes it is very hectic, but we always deliver product and service that we are very proud of.”
Sally has also started producing frozen meals and canapés with her Gatting’s Home range, and now part-owns and runs Georgatti Delicious – a retail range of gourmet dips and desserts. “It makes sense that my world is food. I grew up on a farm and have been cooking since I was a child. I love food and I love making people happy; it’s a dream to end up in a business which enables me to do both.
There have been some tough times, especially when we were small, the business was growing quickly and I was managing little children too. Thank goodness for great family support. I’ve never once regretted making the move into this business. I love what I do.”
Words by: Alexia Santamaria
Photos: Mike Rooke and Tessa Burrows
Hair and Make-up by: Glamsquad and Mariessa Waddington
