Ambitious Esculent BW baking its future
Esculent BW is destined to serve freshness and yummy sweet treats for those with a sweet tooth and special events to indulge in their bakery and confectionary products in Maun and surrounding areas.
Owner of Esculent BW, Natasha Khango says that celebrations are a lifestyle, and incomplete if a cake is not part of the menu. Baking has opened her eyes to appreciate occasions even more and she is confident to say that Batswana have adopted the culture of celebrating their achievements through cakes. As a baker, she is excited that her work is relevant and puts a smile in people’s lives. She has always loved baking and watched her mother bake
as she was growing up. “My mother has always been an excellent baker, and so I also became passionate of this baking thing just for fun,” she tells BG Style. While she has been sitting on her baking passion, her friend who made cupcakes for profits, encouraged her to also do the same.
“My friend was relocating to Namibia, and she thought that I should take over and bake scones for sale too, so that her clients don’t suffer when she was away. This is when I started turning my baking skills into business,” she says. She learnt more about baking and decorating techniques, she says, reiterating that she aspired to become the best and serve best quality and taste. From cupcakes, she expanded her brand with full cakes and popsicles too. “I fell in love with the process of making these treats, unaware that I could call it a consistent business one day. Eventually I branched into making cakes and that is what I now mainly focus on,” explains Khango.
As her cakes are in demand, she delivers with satisfaction for birthdays including kids occasions, bridal showers, baby showers, wedding anniversaries and church events. She has just recently started making wedding cakes which she says are her biggest achievement. She explains that wedding cakes are not just ordinary cakes, as they have to last for a long time, just like how marriage union should. “Wedding cakes last for years, while normal cakes just take days,” she adds.
The bubbly Khango tells BG Style that from her own observation, wedding cakes require a specific skill unlike the usual fresh cakes which is why she is excited about having introduced them to her baking line.
She is so far happy about the feedback that she receives, and says it keeps her going and motivates her to keep learning and adding new products. For her, baking and confectionery in Botswana, is very impressive, and she is glad that she fits well into the market although she started operating just last year in the midst of the Covid- 19 pandemic.
Her challenge is having to deal with difficult customers who take advantage that she is young and always want to negotiate for less pricing while the recent increase in prices and value added tax also affect them as businesses. “Despite usually having pleasant clients, some notice how young I am and decide to make business difficult for me, they try to take advantage and think they can coerce me into providing them discounts or even giving them free stuff,” laments Khango.
Nonetheless, she loves what she does and excitedly shares that she doesn’t serve the Maun community only but gets clients from places surrounding Maun too. She therefore plans to upgrade from being a self- taught baker and go to school to learn more. “I would love to level up to a professional status in my field of work, and hopefully open Esculent BW bakery in Maun as the first branch in about three years’ time, then later on set other branches around the country,” she shares.
Khango also plans to start mentoring young entrepreneurs who are interested in baking.