The SWEET SPOT

Two food technologists turned their cravings into flavour empires, one delicious spoonful at a time.

- Eleanor le Riche

GelaToh

Thobekile Mchunu

A self-proclaimed dessert lover, Thobekile Mchunu turned her passion for baking into a business, creating luscious ice cream infused with cream liqueurs and spirits.

What inspired you to start GelaToh?

It started by baking cakes, mainly wedding cakes, and experimenting with Amarula. I was enjoying chocolate cake with a bit of ice cream and Amarula, and I thought, 'Wow, this tastes amazing!' I began researching alcoholic ice cream in South Africa, and found that apart from restaurants serving Dom Pedro there wasn't anything on the market. Inspired by similar concepts abroad, I experimented with making alcoholic ice cream. I'm a food technologist, so I understood the challenge – alcohol doesn't freeze easily. But after some trial and error I got the formula right. Three years later, we've developed 12 flavours and GelaToh is now listed at major retailers like Tops! at SPAR, and soon Pick n Pay and Checkers as well.

Were you ever concerned about GelaToh being too niche for the local market?

Not at all. The power of social media, particularly TikTok, has made niche markets much more accessible. People love discovering new products and being the first to share them with their followers. Years ago, I might have been worried about market size, but today, social media drives the buzz. A great example is when we launched the BJ Shot flavour on Valentine's Day: It went viral, even after TikTok removed the videos due to the name! It was exciting to see how quickly the word spread.

How did you manage the challenges of mixing alcohol with ice cream?