UMYUM Foods – We create Beautifully Delicious food experiences for you to enjoy.

CLEAN INGREDIENTS. WHOLE FOODS. NO SHORTCUTS.

Butter

CHEESE

MONROE

NO COMPROMISE ON TASTE OR TEXTURE.

SHOP OUR PRODUCTS

Hi. I’m, Baz. I love stories. If you’ve got a good one, I’m in. It might be why my journey plays out like chapters of a novel. The early ones are about growing up in South Africa. In a small coastal town where life rolled out at a steady pace. It was fuel for curiosity, creativity, and mischief.

The chapters that followed were exciting. I worked as a creative in advertising. Then music changed everything. I played in bands for years, and a simple twist of fate landed me a record deal. I toured and played in cool places around the world. Then I met Katherine. We had a blast together. We fell in love, lived between Africa and Europe, got married, had kids, and ended up in Canada. We’re still having a blast.

The UMYUM chapter began as all good things do, with necessity, naivety, and the closing of a door. It was a complex time, so here’s the short version….we had a baby, dairy didn’t work for her. Our family loves hanging out and enjoying food, so we had to solve it. Katherine created a bunch of dairy-free cheese. I did the tasting. So. Much. Tasting. Then the Monroe happened. It is a spectacular aged rinded cheese. It shifted everything, and UMYUM became a reality.

We won. Then we lost. Then we won. The pandemic hit, and the business we had at the time tanked hard. Stress. Uncertainty. Confusion. It sucked. But we had a cheese that family and friends loved. So we went all-in. Katherine developed the products. I created the brand. We had no playbook, so we did everything our way. And today, UMYUM is different because of it. We’re proud of that.

We’ve had fortunate moments on this journey. We take none of it for granted. All the incredible people who cheer for UMYUM, we appreciate you. It has been nearly a decade of learning and mastering this craft. Some days are insane. Most of the time, I laugh at how wild this gig is. But this chapter is about purpose – innovating, solving, creating food experiences worth believing in. I’m into that story.

Hello. I’m Katherine. I’m not great at talking about myself. Here goes. I’m originally from South Africa. I trained as a pastry chef, then lived in London for a while and studied marketing. Life was fun and full of lessons. I always took life kinda seriously. Then I met Baz. He doesn’t take life as seriously. We travelled, fell madly in love, had amazing adventures together, and moved to Canada.

I should mention, I love cheese. However, life had a curveball for me. When our daughter was born, she didn’t respond well to dairy. When I was nursing and ate cheese, oh gosh. Not pleasant. I had to solve it. Life without cheese, wtf. So I figured out how to make cheese without dairy. Baz and I tested so many options….beans, seeds, legumes, nuts, pulses. There were some shockers.

Then one day, I created a bloomy rinded cheese. It was exceptional. We snuck it onto tables with friends. Once it got the ‘Wow’, ‘Amazing’, and ‘So Good’, we knew we had something special. We named it Monroe – a tribute to Marilyn and her gorgeous blonde confidence. Monroe is what got UMYUM started. Well, that and the very real need to keep a roof over our family’s head. Our business at the time, which Baz and I ran for seven years, fell off a cliff. It was in 2019/’20. During that time, we don’t talk about.

We spent years creating our first products and then even more years crafting our process. Since those early days of constant solution finding, UMYUM has grown into a high-agency, close-knit team that shows up with purpose. Always. We do things differently. And we’re proud of that. I hope what we create becomes your favourite – whenever you’re with family, friends, or finding a reason to celebrate.

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