GOODNESS GRACIOUS
The local entrepreneurial duo baking gluten- and sugar-free treats
Elizabeth Rautenbach’s love for cooking and baking developed when she was very young, under the watchful eye of her mother.
‘It really started with my mom – she was a home economics and needlework teacher. Every weekend she used to make a cake or a tart for us and I would always play her little assistant – and obviously eat out of the mixing bowls!’
When she was diagnosed with Celiac disease in 2015 Elizabeth’s own struggle to find healthy food options prompted her to take action. ‘You can find gluten-free products, but they’re full of sugar. Or you can find sugar-free products – but they have gluten in them. There weren’t really products that ticked both boxes. I remember waking up one Sunday morning and telling my wife: “I’m going to open a factory!”’
These weren’t just idle words. After she graduated from the
Granger Bay Hotel School with a diploma in Food & Beverage Management, Elizabeth landed an internship with Lombardi Foods (now called In2food) – a factory that produces food for Woolworths. She went on to work for three different catering companies as a manager, overseeing food requirements and other managerial duties, so she knew exactly what it entailed.
Baking gluten-free products, however, was a whole new ball game; one that really put Elizabeth’s skills to the test. She had ‘about 10 million’ ideas and spent hours testing products before she perfected her recipes.
‘We were supplying a couple of Spars, just here and there to test the market. Then one of our products went completely viral.’ The star product? Her pasta for Banters. ‘Everyone grew up eating pasta, so when people change to LCHF, they start looking for alternatives to the foods they enjoyed before. After much difficulty finding such a product myself, I thought, “Why don’t I just make it?” Everyone was contacting us, asking where they could find it, and among them there was a woman who worked for Checkers. She contacted one of their buyers and said, “You have to stock this product!”
‘We were stocked by Checkers quite early in our career and that really was our turning point. As a small company it is really helpful to get your name out there; it was really a stepping stone for us.’ Elizabeth doesn’t want to mess with a winning recipe, so
the pasta has been the same since the beginning … Gracious Bakers has now expanded its range to include penne.
Today, Gracious Bakers holds a Golden Status award – a Noakes Foundation taste-tested stamp of approval for banting, low-carb, keto and Paleo products. The biggest sellers are its biscuits (chocolate, choc chip and vanilla) and Seed and Buttermilk rusks. The bakery also offers a wide range of freshly baked goodies, crackers, its famous pasta and even hot chocolate!
Because it’s a small company, Elizabeth is able to be very handson in all aspects of production; she and her team check every single product in the production line. And in terms of packaging and ingredients, they prefer to keep it simple. ‘People can relate to our product because we still make it in an old-school style, like your grandmother used to,’ Elizabeth explains. ‘Also, what is important in eating healthy is using plain ingredients that customers can recognise.’ It goes without saying that all Gracious Bakers products are gluten-free, sugar-free and perfect for Banters. But they are also handmade without any preservatives, additives or colourants – they even mill their own nut and seed flours to ensure no valuable nutrients are lost.
Elizabeth and her wife Frances, who works in sales, marketing and distribution for the growing company, are justifiably proud of what they’ve accomplished with Gracious Bakers. It’s been an incredible journey, culminating in their own factory store, in partnership with Spar and in association with The Noakes Foundation: Eat Better South Africa! ‘Our aim is to share our love for baking and encourage each and every person to join us in following a healthy, wholesome lifestyle,’ says Elizabeth.
'People can relate to our product because we still make it in an old-school style, like your grandmother used to.'