Tickle your taste buds with mouth watering and top quality recipes dished out by African, Caribbean and Soul food restaurants by glancing at guide Dalekh.com ! We met Jean Gabriel Jemea Kuoh CEO-Founder of Dalekh World.
Hello Jean Gabriel, introduce yourself in a few words? Where do you come from?
Thank you to Team AfroKanLife for this opportunity to share the Dalekh story. My name is Jean-Gabriel Jemea Kuoh, a Cameroonian-born American digital marketer and entrepreneur. After running Mybuzz365.com for 2 years, and with my experience assisting lots of local restaurants in the Boston with their marketing needs, I wanted to do something constructive for Afro-Ethnic restaurant owners and slowly I came up with the DALEKH project and I’m happy this finally came to fruition.
What was the trigger for the launch of the Dalekh? What does Dalekh mean?
Our name comes from the combination of “Da” from the Duala language in Cameroon and “Lekh” from the Wolof language in Senegal. Two words which mean “eat.”
Dalekh is covering more than 10 countries! How do you select the restaurants that appear on your website?
For 18 months, Team Dalekh did extensive market research and found out that there was a strong interest in Afro-ethnic cuisine in these particular countries/markets/cities due to the strong presence of the African and Caribbean diaspora and other potential interested immigrants. That is why we decided to launch the site featuring these different countries.
Who are the Dalekh customers? To whom does your product appeal?
Very good question! Our “Customers” are mainly Restaurateurs and Advertisers on our network! In extension to that, anyone can be a Dalekh World visitor or subscriber to our blog because our data and content appeal to all who are interested, in one way or another, in Afro-ethnic cuisine. It can be people from the diaspora highly interested in locating a great place to eat a well-done meal from back home or a foodie willing to explore something new. Our recipes section is full of amazing dishes from all parts of Africa, the Islands and from the Southern part of the United States (Soul Food).
How do you keep the reviewers active and motivated. Do you rely on them to rate the overall quality of your product?
We highly invite visitors of our site, blog and social media pages to be more and more active. It is crucial for the best interest of the Restaurants members of our network. Suggestions, ideas, tips and constructive criticism are always welcome. We remain creative in our posts in order to keep them alert and always interested by the relevant content we do share daily.
Tell us more about Dalekh Gourmet?
Dalekh Gourmet is a branch of our company that serves as a distribution channel between the finest Afro-ethnic caterers and the consumers. We are currently active in the USA with a focus on Corporations, NGOs and Universities. We will probably extend to other countries soon.
Do you see a new interest in African/Caribbean food across the world as Africa is more fashionable this recent years?
Absolutely. There is undoubtedly a new interest in Afro-ethnic food worldwide. What is most interesting in our research is that there has always been an interest in Afro-ethnic food across the world but no strong visibility and no media coverage at all. African, Caribbean and Soul Food are the best specialties in the world in my humble opinion and this is why I do fight to get them their well-deserved attention.
I do invite all the readers of AfroKanLife and members of the diaspora all over to invite their classmates, roommates, colleagues, and professors to try out African Food. While Dalekh will continue to use digital marketing tools to promote the wonders of Afro based cuisine, but like any marketing expert would say word-of-mouth marketing always works best! We tend to make our decisions based on the shared satisfactory experiences of our peers; and recommending restaurants and inviting our Asian, White, South American friends to Afro-Ethnic spots would certainly confirm the popularity of that new interest in Afro-Ethnic cuisine.
What are your favorite places to eat? We are from Montreal and Paris, name 2 restaurants Team Dalekh recommends!
Team Dalekh in its entirety would probably recommend all of the Dalekh restaurants because we truly love and trust them all. If a restaurant is not on Dalekh, it shouldn’t be trusted! But since your question is restrictive, I can only speak on my behalf at this point and I would personally recommend restaurants like La Menara in Montreal and in Paris, I usually go to Albarino Passy Restaurant among many other fine ones found on Dalekh World.
What are the difficulties that you live as an entrepreneur Jean Gabriel and how do you overcome?
There is always a huge learning curve when you first start a tech company so you always have to be up to date with the latest techniques and technologies! This means constantly attending workshops, conferences, seminars, which demand lots of traveling and time! Another being challenge is that even though I am blessed to be surrounded by a well-qualified and skilled team, there are always moments where I have to fill in for others and become the shipper, the customer service guy, the designer, the salesman, the accountant etc… With the hard labor required, 24 hours in a day isn’t enough for any Entrepreneurs and it takes a toll on my personal life. I miss a lot of important family events, I can’t plan vacations etc. but I embrace it and I know things will eventually change for a more flexible schedule.
What keeps me going days and nights is the LOVE I have for I do! I am being fan of African food, I am in love with Digital Marketing and technology and blending them both to make a living is pretty interesting! Being optimistic for the future of my continent, I believe that through Food, maybe the world will have a more broader view on amazing things our continent could offer, and it is a big motivational factor! It constantly drives me! Also Time management is key! I have a very busy schedule daily but I have to be disciplined to make sure I get everything on time! Finally believing in my project, in my team, in my partners, in my clients and believing in the hopes that Afro-Ethnic cuisine will be more popular and well accepted around the world .
What do you like the most about your job?
I love the fact that I do learn about other cultures, countries, recipes and I meet a lot of successful African immigrant entrepreneurs mostly restaurant owners from whom I learn daily. I also do enjoy free lunches at times when I have meetings with them so I can’t complain (laughs)
What advice could you give to young entrepreneur in your field?
Work work work! Always believe in yourself and never give up. Be disciplined and surround yourself with positive people. Be very knowledgeable and up to date about your market, your products and your industry. Be organized. Be patient, and again, work work work!
Projects, challenges, what 2013 has in store for Dalekh?
We have amazing features coming soon on the site, we are working on a variety of projects and partnerships so stay tuned! Our big challenge is to make of Aloko and Fufu the next popular Sushis (laughs).
Ok, This is your final day on earth , what do you eat ?
Ndole with Miondo (Authentic popular Cameroonian dish)
Last word to our readers?
Please continue to read, support and share the great articles found on Afrokanlife. I would appreciate if you could Join us and support our endeavor in discovering and promoting first-class African, Caribbean and Soul food cuisines all over the globe! Invite friends, family, colleagues, classmates to try out Afro-Ethnic recipes and Restaurants! We’ve successfully promoted our culture through music, we can certainly do the same through food!
Thank you for supporting Dalekh World !
More information :
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/dalekhworld/
Tumblr : http://dalekhworld.tumblr.com/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/dalekhworld
Site : http://www.dalekh.com/
