Join us for this episode with Yemisrach Abera, Founder and CEO of Tapu Foods, a company specializing in ready-to-eat Ethiopian meals, takeaway foods, and packaged traditional items. For seventeen years, she has been leading and shaping Ethiopia’s prepared food industry. In this episode, Yemisrach walks us through her story from being born in prison and her early life, how she came up with the idea to enter this line of business, the beginning and expansion of Tapu, and how she approached changing Ethiopian feeding culture. She also talks about the ecosystem and supply chain around ready-to-eat foods, Tapu’s market expansion and growth, leading more than 400 people, and much more from her journey. More from our partners: Dashen Bank Website: https://dashenbanksc.com Telegram: https://t.me/DashenBankEthiopia Noah Real Estate Website: https://noahrealestateplc.com/ BPO Partnership Form: https://forms.gle/PsAVBP1vXCvhKXFP6 thereliable.tech GIZ: https://www.giz.de/de/downloads/giz2023-en-private-sector-development-in-ethiopia.pdf To advertise on Meri: https://meri.et/advertise 00:00 - Introduction 02:37 - opening 03:42 - Background 09:25 - Starting a business 26:48 - Coming up with the idea of Tapu 30:20 - Acceptance of the product and first clients 33:38 - Investing time on early preparations 36:15 - First feeling of success 38:09 - Business goals/aim 40:41 - Demand 43:02 - Production process 47:00 - Supply chain 52:47 - Sourcing 59:28 - Honest living 01:07:26- restaurant business 01:16:19 - customer service 01:29:01- advice for people in the food sector 01:32:00 - Management style 01:46:07 - Support system 01:55:29 - Rundown quetsions 01:21:20 - Last thoughts 01:59:54 - Wisdom Social Links https://t.me/MERI_PODCAST https://twitter.com/MERI_Podcast https://www.instagram.com/meripodcast/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzKNuQ80qNSpt2x-7dsazJg https://youtube.com/@Meriwoch?si=yIpJ3byprnVNwKi1 https://youtube.com/@mericlipset?si=wwa0KeQ_Nv2aPy9l https://www.tiktok.com/@meripodcast https://www.linkedin.com/company/meriethiopian/ Copyright Notice for Meri Podcast: All rights reserved. The content featured in this podcast is protected by copyright laws. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or modification of any portion of this podcast is strictly prohibited. For permission to use our content, please contact us at info@meri.et Thank you for respecting our copyright.