Laura Shaughnessy is the former managing editor at Dockwalk.
Nothing brings people together quite as effectively or happily as food does. Join Superyacht Foodie (SYF) at their international tasting event for superyacht crew in South Africa. This is the first-ever event of its kind in South Africa. It will be held on March 24 in Cape Town, South Africa, at Makers Landing, a foodie incubator located in the cruise terminal. Drop in any time from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for this free event where yachties and yacht food provisioners will get to know each other while enjoying luxury niche food and drinks.
“We would like the crew to enjoy the unique food and drinks we will be sharing and have the opportunity to meet each other and our partners who are offering support and advice to help the crew in their yacht careers."
Enjoy live entertainment from a DJ and violinist and a professional mixologist from Cause Effect Kitchen Cocktail Bar at this luxury networking event that aims to bring new and veteran crew together to create connections, build relationships, and grow their yachting contacts in South Africa.
The event is partnering with Food from Finland, Business Finland, and the Finnish Embassy in South Africa — a resident chef from Business Finland and the Embassy of Finland will prepare authentic Finnish delicacies. Other partners, like Standard Bank, will be there to help crew with international banking questions while crew training academy Pull North Yachting will be able to advise crew on visa requirements, training options, and how to get started in the yachting industry. Plus, superyacht recruiters will be there on the lookout for crew who are ready to work.
Thanks to social media and word of mouth, they expect at least 100 to 150 crew to attend. “Our Instagram DMs are going crazy this week from people excited about the event, so I think it’s going to be fantastic,” Titta Uoti-Väisänen, founder of Superyacht Foodie, told Dockwalk.
This event follows the success of the first SYF event at the Monaco Yacht Club on September 18, 2021, before the Monaco Yacht Show. Just a few days before the show started, the event was open to all yacht crew in the area, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, the capacity limit was set to 80 people.
Prioritizing South African Crew
“It's the first event from an international yachting company for yacht crew in South Africa,” Uoti-Väisänen says, adding, “South African crew are very important for the yachting industry, and we look forward to working very closely with yachting communities in Cape Town long term.”
“Lots of South African crew crave foods from home. We are here to matchmake provisioners with products for the crew as well as for the owners and guests. We hope to be able to help South African producers get their products over to global yachting hubs much more easily, so watch this space,” Uoti-Väisänen says.
“We would like the crew to enjoy the unique food and drinks we will be sharing and have the opportunity to meet each other and our partners who are offering support and advice to help the crew in their yacht careers,” says Uoti-Väisänen.
The busy founder also runs the www.lifeafteryachting.com program. “I love providing a full circle of support for crew, from the start and middle of their career at events like this, through to the time they are thinking about moving ashore via the Life After Yachting portal.”
The event will be held on March 24 in Cape Town, South Africa at Makers Landing from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Superyacht Foodie is a match-making service that connects superyacht chefs, chief stews, and provisioning companies based in the South of France. They source rare and sustainable products for crew and provisioners and support exceptional food and drink producers that many may not have known how to access in the global superyacht market without Superyacht Foodie. Though they don't sell the products directly, they do connect the producers with the yachts and provisioners.
Check out their Instagram account @SuperyachtFoodie. “Our Instagram is full of amazing ingredients, snacks, drinks, and recipes and is the best place to see what we are sharing throughout the year,” Uoti-Väisänen says.