Mitchell Humphrey speaking with Leroy Smith during an interview for BIG Smith News Watch which premiered yesterday Sunday.
Frequently we associate healthy eating with some of the most tasteless food, but healthy foods do not have to lack that flavour that entices us.
Wholesum Foods located at the corners of East and New Market Streets has been making healthy yet delicious baked goods that cater to the health-conscious as well as persons with diabetes.
During ‘FOCUS,’ a programme produced by BIG Smith News Watch, proprietor of the establishment, Mitchell Humphrey shared his start up story.
Reminiscing on his childhood, Mitchell relayed that he grew up with his dad and stepmother after his mother migrated.
He added that his father was an entrepreneur, and his stepmother was an excellent cook.
“The early learning of cooking was through them; I never liked it; it was not something I liked.. as a child I never liked cooking and all these things. It was a horror for me. I would cry for hours just to grate one coconut,” Humphrey recalled.
He added that one day, he found the art of grating coconut, which was to put it on the point and grate it, and once that is finished, you turn to another point.
He said that after he learned about the art of grating coconut, it made him have a change of view regarding what can be done differently. He then landed a job as a stores clerk at the Calypso Restaurant.
The businessman told BIG Smith News Watch that the cooks would usually ask him to “try out the food” and tell them what he thinks.
This, he said, made him more involved in cooking over the years.
“It was a vision of mine, and I started with no money. I had just regular equipment like, for example, a domestic oven, so that is how we started,” Mitchell said while speaking from his business’ Lot 350 East and New Market Streets address.
After launching his business in just under four years, Mitchell said that he approached the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) and was provided with a loan to upgrade his business.
“When we thought that we would have had a breakthrough, COVID-19 came, and so one year, we would have just been able to just survive, but thankfully our products allowed us never to shut during COVID. We were able to still open and cover our expenses.”
Mitchell, a Chef for just over 20 years, said that his business aims to give back to Guyana with wholesome foods at an affordable cost.
Some of the foods you can pick up at Wholesum Foods include a line of speciality breads including vegan and diabetic bread, Italian Flat Bread Sandwiches, Cinnamon Rolls, Turnovers, Pinwheels, loaves of bread, and much more.
You can contact Wholesum Foods on 592-503-0007 or 502-656-9721. They are open from Monday – Friday from 7:00 am to 5:30 pm.