In The Oil Business

Low on fire and high on flavour, Banhoek Chilli Oil is a brand that’s set to catapult its producers to entrepreneurial success – and delight the palates of spice lovers around the country

- Richard Holmes 

The first time I meet Ken Kinsey-Quick, we’re chatting in his home office in the Western Cape Winelands. Dominating the wide desk are four vast computer screens spitting out a constant stream of graphs and figures from financial markets around the world. We’re chatting oil and futures. But for a change, they’re of the foodie – not the financial – kind.

After decades working in the global financial industry both in South Africa and abroad, Ken’s making a change. By the time you read this, chances are he’ll have hung up his investment hat to focus full-time on his new passion: chilli oil.

“When I was living in Paris, I loved the sachets of chili-infused oil that would arrive with your takeaway pizza,” reminisces Ken, who would hoard the sachets for adding a hit of chilli zing to pizza, pasta and salads. Back in South Africa he couldn’t find anything similar, so – to feed his chilli craving – the first seeds of a new business were born.

Those came to fruition in February this year, with the official launch – to gathered media, friends and chilli fans – of Banhoek Chilli Oil. The launch took place at The Kitchen in Woodstock, Cape Town, where chef Karen Dudley creates inspiring globetrotting plates. But more on that later; Ken had a lot of work to do to reach that point.

To solve his chilli-oil conundrum, he turned to his brotherin-law, Adi Meintjes, a born-and-bred Karoo farmer and passionate foodie. “I said to Ken: ‘Of course I can make this for you!’” laughs Adi. “It was perfect timing as I was looking for a new challenge, so I got straight to work in my home kitchen.”