Durban-born Sinenhlanhla Ndlela is the face behind and founder of the delicious, guilt-free vegan ice cream, Yococo, that has been people's favourite sweet treat since 2016. From wanting to be a lawyer to being a choreographer, the businesswoman, wife and mother shares that her dreams changed with age.
She moved to Johannesburg in 2015 to work on television after graduating from varsity, a career she thought she'd pursue for the rest of her life. However, after going through personal and spiritual changes and realising that food was the first point of contact with how one feels, she decided to eliminate dairy and animal products.
Since she always loved ice cream, which, she says, has always been a love language between herself, her mom and grandmother, the idea of creating a vegan ice cream was born. As for the name of her brand, she explains that she thought she would initially make yoghurt, as ice cream is quite difficult to make. So the name was inspired by yoghurt and coconut. From identifying a gap in the market to whipping up and trying recipes in the kitchen, Sinenhlanhla aims to make 2024 a success with her Yococo ice cream brand, a love language she aims to expand to other vegan ice cream lovers across South Africa and beyond its borders.