‘It all started with 10 chickens’

For the love of being his own boss
Talah Dacosta started Talahs Cookery in 2019, famous for ­its ­traditional homemade ­delicacies.
Junior Kapofi
Talahs Cookery specialises in catering and traditional home cooking. It was founded by Talah Dacosta in 2019. They currently operate in Windhoek as well as the North.

Dacosta started the business with only 10 chickens. This all started when he had a conversation with a friend and wanted a holiday job but did not want to work for someone. “I made a joke and told my friend, ‘but the problem is I don’t want to be working for someone, waking up early in the morning just to go work for someone’,” said Dacosta

“I told him that moment, ‘You know what, I am going to buy marathon chickens with the money I have on my account, even just 10, so I can start selling tomorrow and see how the demand will be’.”

Dacosta has quite the following on social media, so he used that to promote his new venture. His chickens sold out in less than three hours, and he got an immense amount of support and feedback which kept him motivated to keep running this venture.

He started cooking more than 10 chickens as he had to meet the demand of his consumers. “My economics teacher in high school taught me if the demand for a certain service or product is high, you must increase it, so I follow the law of demand,” said Dacosta.

Talahs Cookery not only sells chicken but a variety of other dishes, from angelfish to homemade pizza, goat head and trotters. They also offer catering services so consumers have a wide variety of food items to choose from when ordering.

The main challenge faced by Dacosta is when customers are impatient to receive their orders.

Dacosta sees his business expanding in the next five years, branching out to other regions and employing more people to help curb unemployment in the country.

He says his business is doing quite well after the pandemic, with customers ordering food every day and making bookings for catering at weddings, christenings and corporate events.

“The good part about running a food business is that the demand will never go down because food is a need, not a want, and people will always be hungry,” says Dacosta. “As long as you provide the clients with the best service and keep the food flavours the same, they will never stop supporting you.”