As a working mother of two, Aya Osama, an AUC graduate decided to start out a business a lot of housewives might find interesting, helpful and a life saver. "I used to come back running from work every day to fix lunch for my kids. Having to do this I had to compromise my well being; no quality time to spend with my family, I skipped my Gym classes and so on. Moreover, my energy levels were hitting rock bottom; I almost slept one night in the kitchen while preparing their lunchboxes for the next school day. I thought then of hiring a cook, but being a hygiene freak, didn’t make much of this solution, in addition to the instability of domestic labor that we all experience; they come one day and skip two with no explanations whatsoever. Then, unwillingly, with a great sense of guilt and helplessness altogether, after being extremely exhausted on daily basis, I started integrating “fast food” into our meals, and we all know how negative the outcome is aside from how limited my wardrobe options became after all the junk food I used to have", she tells us.
Here came the inspiration, to enjoy a decent, healthy, quick meal all together without all that fuss. It was Aya's elder sister who encouraged her to utilize the old passion she once had for cooking, and then she started her mission; providing mums with affordable, quick, yet healthy meals that they can stack up their freezers, and enjoy with their families at their own comfort and convenience. "I wanted to prove that there might be solutions or options out there other than trading our health or our personal well-being. There’s no doubt that there’s an obvious increase in health awareness and fitness consciousness that would later make such a solution, a necessity rather than a choice for many working women with hectic schedules", she adds.
iCHEF serves everyday freezer friendly meals, in addition to event and corporate catering. They provide a wide range of dishes to satisfy all tastes and different nutritional requirements. All the dishes are made with grade A imported gourmet cheese, Italian pasta, fresh poultry and meat. Moreover, iChef depends primarily on fresh from the farm organic vegetables and herbs.
Aya tries to update herself by reading books and articles about food, nutrition and cooking. "I attend cooking classes, and I also try to keep up with whatever is going on with the food and beverage industry. I travel a lot to experience different cuisines and flavors and integrate in our menus. Nevertheless, we depend a lot on our customers feedback, opinions, or suggestions. We try offering seasonal inspired dishes in addition to hiring different chefs with different specializations and backgrounds", she explains.
iChef proudly contacted and invited many reputable bodies to attend during events and activities. Among which was the
iChef is currently working and conducting surveys on their new range “iCHEF lunch break” freshly delivered, well balanced school lunch boxes, also suitable for work, and picnics. It will be ready by the Academic year 2010/2011. This will include a variety of well balanced, child friendly salads, finger food, sandwiches, wraps, snacks etc. "Some of our customers are already trying this range, and the feedback we’re getting is amazing! On the other hand, we are conducting cooking classes for Mums and kids. Finally, we will introduce iCHEF to major supermarkets where you can find our products while you’re doing your shopping, in addition to iCHEF outlets that we are planning to cover all over Cairo".
For more info about iCHEF and some healthy eating: visit the Facebook group 'ichef Door' or contact with your requests: i.chef@hotmail.com-0163585562