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Farai Chakabuda

Conferences/Meetings

CXAZ Annual Convention 2024: A speaker, delegate’s perspective

by Editorial Team
written by Editorial Team

Farai Mwakutuya

Last week I attended and spoke at the Customer Experience Association of Zimbabwe (CXAZ) Annual Convention. My presentation highlighted the Riana Group’s innovative and customisable digital solutions that help businesses to generate real time customer feedback and optimise efficiency about the evolution from Customer Service to Customer Experience.

Customer Service focuses on reacting to problems, essentially acting as a “pain killer,” while customer experience is more proactive – adopting a holistic transformation of how customers experience your brand, making it a growth lever that builds loyalty, brand advocacy and long-term growth.

I thoroughly enjoyed the highly insightful presentations from the other high-level speakers including CBZ Holdings Group Chief Marketing and Corporate Affairs Officer, Matilda Nyathi (who) spoke about the inescapable impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and how customer experience practitioners can utilise it to improve productivity and efficiency. She highlighted that, unlike the case with other technologies, Africa is starting on the same page as the rest of the world, as no one has a head start on this increasingly pervasive technology.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Human Resources and Administration Director, Cleopas Chiketa gave examples of how leading global brands have adopted a customer-centric philosophy which local companies should seek to emulate.

Winfield Strategy and Innovation Managing Director, Precious Murena-Nyika made a highly relevant and thought-provoking presentation about navigating the corporate political landscape.

Steward Bank Chief Executive Officer, Courage Mashavave made the poignant observation that the only competitive advantage a business has is its people (HR) and how it makes its customers feel. Therefore, customer experience should no longer be viewed as merely a cost centre, but a value adding function that contributes to the “bottom-line.”

The general consensus from the convention was that AI will have a fundamental impact on customer experience by giving businesses the tools to improve how they anticipate customer needs and proactively address them. We should therefore embrace it fully.

  • Farai Mwakutuya is an international journalist, television and radio presenter, master of ceremonies and event moderator.
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Other

Inaugural Food Festival a success: Chakabuda

by Editorial Team
written by Editorial Team

The inaugural Food Festival Zimbabwe held on 1 September 2024, at the First Capital Bank Sports Club in Mount Pleasant, Harare, was very successful. This was said by the organiser and event strategist at ZimEvents Creations, Farai Chakabuda in an engagement with Business Events this week.

The event was held under the theme: “The Ultimate Cultural Food Experience.”

 “The event was a ground-breaking success, attracting 35 vendors who showcased a diverse range of cultural food cuisines from around the world. From Japanese sushi to Thai cuisine, Zimbabwean traditional dishes, and English cuisine, attendees were treated to a culinary journey like no other.

“The festival drew over 400 attendees, who were all eager to sample the unique flavours and aromas on offer. The event’s success was a testament to the meticulous planning and execution that we invested in it,” Chakabuda said.

The event professional indicated that, although this was the inaugural edition of the event, given its resounding success, the Food Festival had established itself as a premier event on Zimbabwe’s culinary calendar, with food enthusiasts eagerly anticipating the next edition.

The ZimEvents Creations boss highlighted that the objectives of the event included the promotion of various cuisines and culture as well as the provision of a platform for local chefs and food vendors to showcase their talents.

“The event seeks to bring together people from different backgrounds and age groups to celebrate the universal language of food. It is our modest contribution towards the growth of the local economy through tourism and job creation,” Chakabuda said.

Building on the momentum of the first edition, Chakabuda and her team are readying the next edition of the event dubbed the “Hot Summer Edition,” which is scheduled for October 26, 2024.

“This edition will focus on summer foods, refreshing beverages, and specialized eats, guaranteeing an unforgettable experience for our attendees. They should expect a culinary journey through Zimbabwe’s diverse regions, with dishes and ingredients that showcase the country’s rich culinary heritage. The event will be a culinary adventure featuring international cuisine, fusion food, and innovative cooking techniques. Some of the major highlights of the forthcoming event include live music performances by local and regional artists as well as interactive cooking demonstrations and workshops,” Chakabuda explained.

The ZimEvents Creations event strategist and designer said the forthcoming event will have a marketplace featuring local food vendors, artisanal producers, and handmade crafts. This time around, there will be a fun-filled kids’ zone with face painting, bounce houses, and more. VIP attendees will be catered for through the provision of a lounge with exclusive food and drink options, and meet-and-greets with celebrity chefs.

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ExhibitionsOrganisers

Zim Cake Expo celebrates 10th anniversary

by Editorial Team
written by Editorial Team

The Zimbabwe Cake Expo is set to celebrate its 10th anniversary during this year’s edition of the show. This was revealed by the organisers, Zim Events in a statement issued by its Founder and event producer, Farai Chakabuda this week.

According to Chakabuda, the event started with the hosting of its first edition on 17 June 2012. Pioneer exhibitors included Baker’s Wallet, Icing Blooms, Cake Zone and Midsyl Cake Magic which have become household names in the Zimbabwean cake-baking industry.

Over the years the event has grown in stature and has become an annual event held every November. This year’s event, which is special because of its anniversary status, will be held on 26 November at the Harare Club in Harare.

“The vision was to bring cake creatives under one roof in order for them to showcase their cake designs and artistry skills to a broad target audience. This has become a reality as the event has witnessed a gradual growth in terms of professional cake creatives participating as exhibitors and individuals attending as guests,” Chakabuda said.

The event organisers realised that in addition to creating a platform for cake-baking professionals and enthusiasts to foreground their skills and products, they needed to attract enough visitors to the subsequent editions. They introduced cake tasting as a major highlight of the event.

“While keeping in line with the event vision, the main objective was identified as creating a physical marketplace for the professional cake creatives and prospective customers, a secondary objective was identified to create an event activity that serves as an attraction to the attendees.

“The cake-tasting activity is not only a leisure highlight of the event but also an educational feature in that the guests and adjudicators are able to grade and critique the various cake flavours and designs displayed and offered by the professional cake creatives. The feedback given to the creatives serves as learning insights as score sheets with specific criteria are used in critiquing and grading the flavour and textures of cakes and other baked products,” she said.

Chakabuda highlighted that the 10-year journey was not plain sailing as she and her team encountered and overcame a number of challenges.

“It is important to note that during the past nine years challenges in hosting the event were met and methods of adjusting to the challenges were established. Such challenges included budget constraints, anomalies during event preparation and the growth of the number of professional cake creatives participating as exhibitors,” Chakabuda gave out.

The Zim Cake Expo boss also noted that the process of finding solutions for the various challenges they faced gave birth to some synergies with other stakeholders in the industry.

“In handling the challenge of budget constraints, synergies were created with event partners and event sponsors. A long-standing synergy was created with printing and design houses such as KenChris Stationery since 2018,” she said.

The event was not spared the vagaries of the Covid-19 pandemic which hit the country in 2020 and 2021.

“The eighth edition of the Zim Cake Expo was hosted during the era of the pandemic. The organisers ensured strict COVID protocols were incorporated and adhered to before, during and after the presentation of the event,” Chakabuda said.

Although the pandemic is not yet over, the partial relaxation of the pandemic safety protocols enabled more exhibitors and visitors to participate at the show in 2021.

“With the announcement pertaining to the ease of the lockdown restrictions, the ninth edition (of the event) witnessed a larger number of professional cake creatives participating. The number of guest attendees also increased,” said Chakabuda.

As part of the event’s 10th anniversary celebrations, Zim Events is giving a discount on stall charges to returning exhibitors while visitors to the show will benefit from door prizes. The first 10 visitors to walk through the venue doors will get a free full cake each while the next lot of 10 will receive a baker’s product hamper each.

Asked about her secrets for success, Chakabuda responded that: “Focus, consistency and determination against all odds have been the foundation of the growth of the Zim Cake Expo.”

Buoyed by the success of the Zim Cake Expo, Chakabuda and her team have set their sights on conquering the continent.  She hinted at coming up with an African cake event although she indicated that she was not ready to disclose its finer details yet.

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Exhibitions

Zim Cake Expo a success

by Editorial Team
written by Editorial Team

The Zim Cake Expo, which was held in Harare on 28 November, was a huge success despite the coronavirus pandemic that inhibited some people from attending business events. This was said by the event’s founder and producer, Farai Chakabuda recently.

“This year, the event was carefully implemented adhering to the COVID-19 protocols.  Guests witnessed world class standards in cake decorating exhibited by cake bakers, who are also known as Cake Bosses. The main event sponsor was Gloria Flour who added an epic experience to the event by giving away 50 Gloria Baking Recipe Books as well as over 200 packets of 2kg Gloria Self Raising Cake Flour to each guest who visited the Zim Cake Expo. Hefty baker hampers were awarded to the top five professional cake bakers in the Most Tasty Cakes category,” Chakabuda told Business Events.

“Country Choice Foods gave away three hefty hampers to our first three guests who arrived at the event venue at exactly mid-day. Scrumptious full cakes were also given as door prizes to the first 10 guests who arrived at the event venue at exactly mid-day,” Chakabuda said.

Apart from cake tasting, which is the staple of cake shows, the event was spiced up with other activities such as wine tasting.

“Cake tasting, being the main highlight of the event was complimented with wine tasting by Rwendo Wines and cocktails served by Denise the Cocktail Mixer,” the cake show boss said.

Asked about safety protocols, which the organisers took to ensure that the expo was COVID19-safe, Chakabuda stated that they pulled all the stops to ensure that event was safe.

“The event was hosted outdoors in a tent to allow free circulation of air. The wearing of masks for all exhibitors and guests was mandatory and continually encouraged throughout the event. (The) wearing of gloves was mandatory and continually encouraged for all exhibitors,” she said.

“Hand sanitization was highly frequent as there were three sanitizing stations that were strictly manned and managed by our event personnel. These were placed at the gate point of entry and at the main exhibition tent point of entry and at the exit point of the venue. All guests who intended to attend the event must have registered and paid in advance and selected their preferred time allocation. There were three time slots on the event day for guests to enter the venue. Each time slot had a limited number of guests to facilitate the management of guest in the venue in terms of other COVID-19 measures like social distancing,” Chakabuda explained.

Chakabuda highlighted that the Zim Cake Expo was one of the most sought after event by cake lovers, aspiring cake bakers and other people who have a passion for cake baking.

“The Zim Cake Expo brings together 50 established Cake Bosses who showcase stunning cake creations and offer over 30 flavours of cakes,” she said.

Asked about the history of the event, Chakabuda explained that from its beginnings as a cake tasting event in Mount Pleasant eight years ago, the event had grown in stature.

“The first edition event and subsequent editions were hosted at Pleasant Villa Gardens in Mount Pleasant, an event venue which is owned by my mother. It was these humble beginnings that have moulded the event into what it is today,” said Chakabuda.

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