THE CLIENT

Decorex / FOOD XX / Studio H

THE BRIEF

Design a stand for Studio H at Decorex

THE RESULT

In a bid to celebrate women in food, we created an interactive jar swop initiative with donations that went to Ladles of Love, a feeding scheme in Cape Town. The food jar exchange contained donated preserved foods, personal stories and recipes. We wanted to show that a small gesture can make a big difference because donating one jar of food can help alleviate hunger in our immediate community.

The FOOD XX Jar Exxchange also paid homage to traditions of food preservation. For centuries, women have preserved food and their cultural heritage through the age-old tradition of canning, jamming and pickling.

The stand became an exchange hub where anyone – not just women – from all over the peninsula could come to swop a jar of their preserves with a card attached sharing the story and recipe of the food in the jar. Each donor received an empty jar, to keep paying the action forward.

We were overwhelmed by donations from brands such as Bergsoom Pure Foods, who donate 1 000 jars to the project.

THE TEAM

Photos: Paris Brummer

Styling: Juwan Beyers

THE CLIENT

Pedersen + Lennard

THE BRIEF

Conceptualise and prepare a lunch menu for a team of designers participating in the Design Week Challenge with a focus on sustainability, recycling and/or up-cycling that captures the essence of collaboration.

THE RESULT

STARTER

3D-printed food waste dip served with ‘plastic’ veggie chips and crackers.

MAINS

Collaborative Sosatie: We asked the design team a few fun questions prior to the event to help us create giant sosaties that represent everyone’s favourite ingredients and flavours — one of the highlights included goat meat. These were braaied on site to perfection by Chef Thabisho Sechogela.

Cricket Flour Irostile: Larger-than-usual irostile infused with cricket flour accompanied by cultured butter.

Shake and Rake Salad: Inspired by Fluxus artist Alison Knowles, we recreated her performance ‘Make A Salad’ which was first performed back in 1962. We got the design team involved and hands-on in ‘shaking’ and ‘raking’ (again) a larger-than-life coleslaw.

DESSERT

DIY Trifle: A next gen dessert giving new life to cake off-cuts donated by our baker friends from Crumb Boutique Bakery and Sweet Lion Heart.

DRINK

G&Sea: In collaboration with Pienaar & Son, a reimagined gin and seawater sourced right from the Atlantic Ocean.

THE TEAM

Studio H

Chef: Thabisho Sechogela

G&Sea: Pienaar & Son

iRostile: Ou Meul Botrivier

Cultured Butter: Cream of the Crop

Cake Offcuts: Crumb Boutique Bakery and Sweet Lionheart

Photos: Samuel Jordan @samsamsamesam

‍

Thank you Pedersen + Lennard for the inspiring brief and the opportunity to work with your incredible team!

​A homage to the humble bread basket - a generous gesture set on tables throughout the world. Weaving our ancient relationship with wheat into a timeless tradition of giving.

Originally shot and produced by the Studio H team for Chips! and then syndicated in Jan the Journal vol. 3.

Production and styling: Hendrik Coetzee

Photos: Marloes Haarmans

‍

Studio H was commissioned by Defined PR to present a fragrance masterclass and installation for the launch of Comfort’s new fragrance collection in Johannesburg. Hannerie presented an interactive sensory workshop exploring the intricate connection between scent and memory, demonstrating through engaging sound, smell and taste exercises how the olfactory system works directly with the brain’s emotional and memory centres. Unlike other senses, the olfactory system processes directly to the brain areas associated with emotion and memory. This explains why smells can trigger vivid and emotional memories, and also significantly impact our perception of flavour.

Guests were also encouraged to interact with a variety of fragrance samples and share personal stories or memories linked to specific smells. This hands-on experience emphasised the remarkable power of scent to create emotional connections and enhance sensory experiences, fostering a deeper understanding of the role fragrance plays in shaping brand identity.

‍

THE BRIEF
Design a brunch-for-besties on the day after Women’s Day to celebrate the launch of the Shelflife x Selfi capsule collection. The 15-piece range blends Shelflife’s streetwear DNA with SELFI’s conscious craftsmanship – inspired by the quiet power of your ride-or-die. In soft tones of sky blue, chocolate brown and cream, each piece invites you to see yourself through chosen family: with love, honesty, and unapologetic self-expression.

THE CONCEPT
Together with Amy-Jo Windt of Grey Bird Desserts, we designed an interactive brunch that brought best friends closer. Design touches set the stage for connection: a chequerboard tablecloth, paper fortune tellers and playful tablescape. Each pair of besties received a surprise dessert: mini cakes for two, each one different, revealed through a game of flavour-guessing using the paper fortune tellers. Chouxettes arrived with mini piping bags to fill together.

The centrepiecewas an X-shaped, two-tier cake that mirrored the collaboration itself. When it came time for mains, the cake was pulled apart into four sections with guests drawing the tablecloths to the centre of the tables – a shared act of breaking, making, and feasting.

THE MENU

Starters

·      Grapefruit marmalade & mature cheddar scones with whippedsalted butter

·      Crudités with roasted garlic & feta whip, walnut & spinachdip, baba ganoush

·      Gluten-free crackers, grissini vines

·      Marinated olives & feta, roasted candied nuts, devilled eggs

Mains: Savoury Cake

·      Tier 1: Olive oil cake with tomato & fior di latte filling, basilcream cheese frosting

·      Tier 2: Bay leaf cake with pickled cucumber & carrot filling,ricotta cream cheese frosting with cucumber ribbons

·      Smoked salmon trout ribbons

Desserts

·      Chouxettes with roasted strawberry custard

·      Deluxe chocolate tiramisu

·      Surprise dessert for each duo

THE TEAM

‍Baker: Amy-Jo Windt

Assistant: Lara Hanger

Studio H: Brigitte Lilley, Hannerie Visser, Eviwe Qubelo

Styling: Phillip Obermeyer

Assistant: Jana Wasserman

Staffing: Hero Events

THE WORK

My work "Visnetten” was on show at in The Hague until the end of January 2022 as part of the show “Food For Thought” curated by Diana Wind. Recipe cards attached to embroidered fishing nets tell the story of a broken food system and the invisible people, often women, in that system. Visitors are encouraged to remove the cards with family recipes to expose the embroidery. Also on exhibition is my grandmother and great grandmother’s recipe book that’s been in our family for more than 100 years. Fishing net bags made by Weskusmandjie were for sale in the museum shop.

THANK YOU

This project could not have been possible without: Hilda Adams and the women whose story inspired this work.

Embroidery by Keiskamma Art Project: Veronica Betani, Nombulelo Paliso, Bonelwa Paliso, Setyenzwa Mangwana, Esethu Makubalo, Nokuzola Mvaphants, Thabisa Gusha, Fikiswa Madlingozi, Sanela Maxengana

Graphic design: Casper Schutte

Special thanks to: Michaela Howse, Tracy Lee Lynch, Hendrik Coetzee

Museum Rijswijk: DianaArnault, Astrid, Anneke and the rest of the most wonderful, helpful and passionate team of people.

INGREDIENTS

• 155 g roasted broccoli
• 315 g roasted butternut
• 1 pack vegetarian chipolatas (Woolies)
• 2 cups cheddar, grated
• 1 onion, grated
• 30ml peppadews, chopped
• 500 ml milk
• 4 eggs
• 125 ml flour
• 10 ml baking powder

METHOD

• Pre heat the oven to 180 °C.
• Mix everything together and bake for 45 minutes, or until cooked through.
• Let cool in tin for 30 min, turn out and cool completely.
• Frost with savoury butter and cream cheese frosting.

‍

Photos: Nikki Symons, Sweet LionHeart

THE CLIENT

Dutoit

‍

THE BRIEF

Celebrate Apple Pie Day (13 May) with an apple tasting and lunch, whilst unveiling a new showstopper variety: the red-fleshed Kissabel apple.

‍

THE RESULT

A day of sensorial installations, crisp bites and bold flavours – guests tasted their way through 11 unique apple varieties, from zingy Granny Smiths to softly blushed Pink Ladies. And an apple pie-inspired feast by Chef Mmabatho Molefe. On the menu? A 2m-long apple pie mille-feuille, puff pastry apple roses, candied apple slices, apple and fennel salad misted with apple pie spray
and pork and apple sausage rolls with apple ketchup.

THE TEAM

Concept, menu and experience design: Studio H

Chef: Mmabatho Molefe

Styling: Klara van Wyngaarden

Venue: Lemkus Exchange

Photos: Daniela Zondagh

Since 2019, Studio H has been shaping the conversation on what’s next in food. For me, this work started long before Studio H. I spent years in the world of trend forecasting alongside Li Edelkoort and her team, representing Li in Africa back when I was Group Publisher at Visi magazine. That experience taught me how to read culture, decode shifts, and recognise the signals that become tomorrow’s behaviours. It’s still at the core of everything we do. We launched our newest Food Trend Report for the 2026/27 season in November 2025. A deep dive into the flavours, materials, rituals, and cultural movements shaping how we’ll eat next. Here are a few images from the launch and a small peek into the trends.The report is trusted by leading brands including Woolworths, Nando’s UK, Babylonstoren and Pepsico, who subscribe annually to track shifts early and stay ahead. The full report is available via our online store.

THE BRIEF

Our studio moved into new offices with a street-facing window display just before the launch of the 100+ Flavours Report. To amplify the launch, we commissioned Hoick to activate the window space.

THE RESULT

“Given the location on Buitenkant Street, it was an opportunity to personally and meaningfully connect with any South African that engaged. We drew inspiration from the democratic medium of classic South African TV, and the visual of screens piled up in Joshua Doore's windows, playing infomercials on repeat. The result was 8 microwave-clad TV screens displaying a selection of rotating dishes, striking a resemblance to nostalgic South African television, as well as the relatable feeling of watching your food as it heats up in the microwave. The broadcasts of rotating plates are interrupted by clips from beloved South African TV shows. A jodetert is interrupted by an Abo Mzala clip, with friends discussing the awkward noisiness of eating skopas at the movies. A skhokho is interrupted by a clip of Ina Paarman mimicking the cry of a refrigerated tomato. A bunny chow is interrupted by an Egoli clip, with Ester and Elsa mistakenly high on weed brownies, hysterically listing everything they want to eat. The window display leads the viewer to an online shop where they are able to purchase the report, but also gives passersby a moment to reflect on South Africa's diverse food culture – to see their own food culture represented, and to indulge in personal sensory memory, free of charge.” – Claire Johnson, co-director, Hoick

Take a stroll past the window at Tiny Empire in Buitenkant Street to see the display IRL.

THE TEAM

CI design: Hoick

Window creative direction and concept: Hoick

Videography: Daniela Zondagh

Culinary production and styling: Studio H

Photos: Daniela Zondagh

The Client

Cherry Time

The Brief

Create a disruptive activation for Cherry Time.

The Result

At Studio H, we are committed to designing experiences that reveal the intricate connections between food systems and the natural world. One such project, created in collaboration with our client Cherry Time, highlights the essential role of bees in agriculture.

This installation captured live audio recordings of bee activity directly from the hives within Cherry Time’s orchards. Paired with video footage and presented in a custom-designed installation box, the result is an immersive sensory experience that invites participants to engage with the symbiotic relationship between pollinators and food production.

By bringing the soundscape of Cherry Time’s orchards to life, this sonic installation offers a unique opportunity to deepen the connection between consumers and the ecological systems that underpin sustainable agriculture. It serves as a reminder of the critical balance required to maintain both biodiversity and the resilience of our food supply.

This collaboration with Cherry Time reflects Studio H’s commitment to creating thoughtful and impactful design interventions that tell the stories of those working to protect and enhance the environments that sustain us all.

‍

Concept: Studio H

Creative direction: Studio H

Video and sound: Jeffrey Moffat

Art direction: Creative Revolt

Vinyls: Signbomb

Collaborators and activation venues: Paul's Homemade Ice-cream and Oranjezicht City Farm Market

THE CLIENT

Nando's

THE BRIEF

Create an activation for Nando's Vusa at an Anglo event during Mininig Indaba.

THE RESULT

For the Nando’s pop-up at an Anglo event during Mining Indaba 2024, we partnered with Faieez Alexander, the visionary and founder of Fuzzys Koesisters, hailed as the home of Cape Town’s best koesister by KFM. These traditional Cape Malay treats are more than pastries, they symbolise a story of resilience and a rich heritage. We served up Nando's Vusa-infused PERi-koesister ice cream sandwiches in The Residency at Makers Landing. This pop-up restaurant space was designed in collaboration with Clout/SA, a Nandos-led design programme that facilitates collaboration between designers and the hospitality sector.

Anglo event production: True North Event Design
Fabric pattern design: Thandazani Nofingxana
Packaging pattern design: Bonolo Chepape

THE CLIENT

Nando's Grocery

THE BRIEF

Create a series of videos and stills with influencers to be used as content for the brand website and brand online channels.

THE RESULT

A series of conversation-style recipe videos, each video featuring a content creator and a chef cooking a hearty, everyday meal together, inspired by local ingredients and flavours. Content creators include: William KRM, Young Ceezy, Siv Ngesi, Paballo Koza, Nabo Binase and Star Shongwe. Recipe development, video and stills production by Studio H.

‍

Recipes included:

Sorghum pancake and greens with crispy egg

Asifanani monkey gland chops

Pull-apart roosterkoek

Nando's bunny chow

Pulled PERi goat and morogo flatbreads

THE TEAM

Producers: Hannerie Visser, JC Landman

Recipe developement: Hannerie Visser, Juwan Beyers, Strone Henry, Keletso Motau

Recipe styling: Keletso Motau

Food assistant: Ivan Masiyazi

Videography: Yellow Brick Media, Earl Abrahams

Video production and direction: Studio H

Stills: Daniela Zondagh, Earl Abrahams

As a food design studio, we’re in our element when we get to design experiences with ingredient deep-dives that pay homage to South African food culture – food design with intention and purpose. In May, we did just that, in collaboration with Chef Mmabatho Molefe. We focused on three humble ingredients: pap, meat and rice, for our Family Meal-themed pop-up restaurant.

Here’s how we celebrated pap: One of four sensory room installations was dedicated entirely to it. With the help of the Studio H community, we built an archive of maize meal from as far as Eswatini, KZN and Matatiele. Videos of South Africans from all walks of life making pap played alongside the installation, with the floor covered in maize kernels for an added sensory layer.

Here’s how we celebrated rice: A pot of Mmabatho’s breyani simmered in the centre of an almost empty room, accompanied by ambient kitchen sounds playing in the background. Guests could unpin a packet of breyani spice blend from a tablecloth. The following morning, they received the breyani recipe and the evening’s playlist via email. The veg breyani was served tableside from a huge pot on a trolley. As part of the table setting guests could use a magnifying glass to discover their names on a grain of rice.

Here’s how we celebrated meat: In the bread and tallow room, guests lit their beef tallow candles to mop up the melted fat with mini corn bread mosbolletjies.

Mmabatho served:

ON ARRIVAL

Beef tallow candles with mini corn bread mosbolletjies

Pap waffles with ushatini three ways (chunky, ketchup and jelly) and hung amasi spread.

Wine Pairing: Spier Signature MCC

A BIKE RIDE FROM SOUTHFIELD
“This dish pays homage to Chef Ryan (Cole) and a few things he introduced me to as a young chef.”
Tuna crudo with maize rice, candied beef tongue (seasoned with white pepper), jalapeños, sliced red onions and crack sauce.
Wine Pairing: Spier Seaward Sauvignon Blanc 2024

PAP/VLEIS
“A universally South African dish. Enjoyed in many different ways, yet still speaking to one culture.”
Pap, braised lamb neck, Studio H’s pickled waterblommetjies.
Wine Pairing: Spier Seaward Shiraz 2023

EDEN FAMILY CHURCH
“Whenever I think of the ultimate family time, it’s me and my family at church. Whether it was a fundraiser or a large church gathering, there was always a pot of breyani waiting to be shared.”
Seared duck breast, pea purée, green vegetables, cottage cheese served with vegetable breyani.
Wine Pairing: Spier Seaward Shiraz 2023

RICE & MILK
“When you’re craving uphuthu namasi but you’re out of both. A simple snack I used to enjoy with some leftover rice.”
Vanilla rice pudding, toasted rice and white chocolate cremeux, raw honeymoon, puffed rice paper, and white chocolate shards.
Wine Pairing: Spier Signature MCC 2023

‍

Download the Family Meal playlist, courtesy of A11 Agency, here.

Thank you:

Wine: Spier Wine Farm
Venue: Lemkus Exchange
Sponsorhsip: Bernice Blundell
Styling: Klara van Wyngaarder
Styling assistant and florals: Phillip Obermeyer
Decor design: Sumien Brink
After party drinks: Kalahari Truffles, Angelique Smith
DJ's by A11: Athi Maq, Aaron W Peters

THE CLIENT
Birkenstock

THE BRIEF
Partner with Birkenstock on their Summer Story campaign, creating a food programme for a 4-day pop-up café, as well as a public-facing Sunday activation on Bree Street.

THE RESULT
A summer food programme designed to move between brand world and street energy. For the 4-day pop-up café, Studio H served as Birkenstock’s culinary partner, developing a menu that translated the campaign into flavour.

In collaboration with Tadaa Ice Cream, we created a set of custom summer ice cream flavours, anchored by Birkenstock’s iconic blue — a visual cue reworked into a sensory signature.

The week culminated in a Sunday activation on Bree Street with a hotdog bar with Kosgangsta.

Concept and culinary partners: Studio H

Culinary collaborator: Juwan Beyers Food Design

Ice cream: Tadaa Ice Cream

Sunday activation hotdog bar: Kosgangsta

THE CLIENT

Scape 100

THE BRIEF

Scape 100 called for a menu that honoured the moment – a celebration of industry leaders whose work has shaped the field. Set within an art gallery with an existing exhibition, the context invited something with a lighter, more playful hand.

CONCEPT

Grounded in the significance of the occasion, yet responsive to the spatial language of the gallery, the experience was designed to feel both elevated and unexpected.

EXPERIENCE

The result was a series of interactive and memorable food moments: a caviar and hot dog trolley, oversized sourdough crisps broken by hand with hammers and paired with Klein River Gruberg and a slice-it-yourself salami station that quickly became a guest favourite.

Further elements included a participatory cake, a melon and salt table and custom-flavoured salts for popcorn – pickle, banoffee, and biltong. The experience was rounded out with jelly shots and sherbet & lollipops, adding a nostalgic, playful layer.

APPROACH

This is how we practise food design: considering not only what is served, but why it exists in that moment. Each element responds to the people, the place, and the purpose, creating an experience where food becomes part of a larger narrative, shaped by context and designed to be felt as much as it is tasted.

TEAM:

In collaboration with Juwan Beyers Food Design

Jello shot tray by The Minimalist

Staffing: Hero Events

THE CLIENT

Etienne Hanekom for Babylonstoren

THE BRIEF

One of our all-time favourite designers, Etienne Hanekom, asked us to contribute to the ‘Wine Aroma’ section of the brand new Wine Museum at Babylonstoren.

THE RESULT

We worked with Etienne and the Babylonstore wine makers to develop a range of perfumes that represent the key flavour notes of each of their wines.

‍

‍

Sonic seasoning is one of our favourite tools when designing experiences. The term “sonic seasoning” refers to the deliberate matching, or pairing, of sound/music with taste/flavour in order to enhance, or modify, the multisensory tasting experience.

Photos: Alix-Rose Cowie, Jade Ruijzenaars

THE CLIENT

Mamakashaka for Spotify Africa

THE BRIEF

Take the culinary lead for the Spotify Greasy Tunes Popup.

THE RESULT

Our studio was commissioned by Mamakashaka to be the culinary lead for the Spotify Greasy Tunes Popup that runs in Braam for the month of July. We designed the menu, set up the kitchen and are in charge of the daily food service in collaboration with Chef Luyanda Sogiba from Lish Foods. We assisted BCKRDS, who designed the CI for the project, to style the food for their campaign shoot.

THE TEAM

Menu design: Studio H

Food designer: Juwan Beyers, Studio H

Culinary execution: Jenny Ward, Luyanda Sogiba

CI design: BCKRDS

Creative Director: Wade Moonsamy

Lead agency: Mamakashaka

Project manager: Siba Mosana

Food prep for shoot: Food I Love You, Studio H

Photographer: André Badenhorst

Studio H Project managers: JC Landman, Angelique Smith

THE CLIENT

Laphroaig Taste Trailblazer

THE BRIEF

Create a brand masterclass for a campaign that aims to create affinity with new whisky drinkers.

THE RESULT

A masterclass, immersive sensorial installation and lunch that introduces the brand through tales of peat, salt and fire. Guests interact with a library of sensorial elements that link to the flavour pillars of the whisky, followed by an interactive brand presentation and fire-cooked lunch menu and whisky tasting.

THE TEAM

Concept, design and creative direction: Studio H

Venues: Cradle Boutique Hotel, Emazulwini Restaurant

Photos: Brendan Croft, Stacy Hart