“We have been fortunate enough to gain a lot of success in the food-truck game over the past few years. Eighty8s Food Co. runs as a very lean but mean business with up to 19 casuals and one or two full-time employees.

Our team is often very busy and are very proud to be associated with Eighty8s. From the time the lockdown was announced, we were swamped by emails from people requesting refunds and postponements on their booked events. We looked at the entire business and thought that it would be better for us to assist those who needed the funds most and suffer ourselves if we had to.

Little did we know that our lockdown was going to be as bad as it was. Many of our staff, who rely on our casual structure of employment for their wages, were affected immediately, with little to no work. We also had many events cancelled with food already bought and nothing to do with it. Then came the idea of assisting schools and children’s homes in need of food. But we still had the problem of very little cash flow to assist us in paying for overheads and labour fees.

We saw on Facebook that Eat Out was requesting restaurants and food-related businesses to come forward and apply for a unique relief fund that they had set up to assist during these tough times, given that we meet the criteria first. We looked at the options, got in touch with Eat Out and within a week, had the funds deposited into our account. We were back in business.

Our kitchen was back in operation, we were able to pay staff for the next two-and-a-half months, we were also able to pay overheads that we had and, most importantly, we delivered over 7 000 meals to kids and children’s homes in Johannesburg.

Eighty8’s Food Co. Image sourced from Instagram.

This journey was a miracle for us, and without the help of Eat Out, we would have not survived. We also received a top-up donation from them to continue our feeding project. And an amazing team of people assisted us in delivering food and goods to those who need it most. Our kitchen has not stopped and our hearts have only grown more and more.

We are super proud of Eat Out, looking at Eighty8s as a key contributor and benefactor to this entire process, and we are blessed to say the least, with the generosity of those who contributed to the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund.

So, in closing, thank you for helping us save our business, thank you for helping us keep people fed, and thank you for being the HELP we needed during this challenging time.”

With love from Eighty8s Food Co.

About Alex

Eighty8s Food Co. was founded in 2017 by Executive Chef, Alexandre Torrao (34), South African Portuguese Foodpreneur. He grew up in Macau (Vegas of Asia) and this is where his fascination with the food industry began. Alex graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in BCom Marketing from Griffith University in Australia and now resides in Gauteng with his wife and two daughters, fulfilling his passion for creating bespoke event experiences, participating in triathlons and getting involved in the design and manufacturing of kitchen equipment.

Alex Tarro. Image supplied

About Eight8s Food Co.

Eighty8s Food Co. positions itself in the market as a Food Experience company focusing on creating bespoke experiences for its customers from a series of food trucks.  It started out of a necessity for good mobile food solutions in the country and since it began, it has only grown. Their services now include: Food Trucks, Private Chefs, Venue Hire set in the trendy Parktown North suburb, Online Groceries and Caterers, who Service private and corporate events, weddings, popups and markets. They are best known for their 5-hour spice pork belly!