• Kaluhi started her journey of food blogging in 2014, and since then she has come a long way.
Image: @kaluhiskitchen on Instagram
Firstly tell me something about yourself?
My name is Kaluhi Adagala and I am Kenya’s best food blogger.
How old were you and what were you doing when you discovered food blogging and decided to start your own food blog?
I have always loved food and sharing amazing recipes with my friends so I started a blog to share what I love with many more people. I started my blog in 2014 and I have been doing it for 5 years now, and soon going into my 6th year of blogging about food
What platform did you use to start? Was it a social media platform?
I started straight away with a blog, because what I wanted to do was clear from the get go, and then later on set up social media channels for my brand as a means to drive traffic to my blog and interact with my readers. I also have an e-book “In My Kitchen”. In 2016 I started filming for YouTube, but stopped because I did not like how they were filmed. I deleted them, learnt how to film and edit my own videos by myself, and came back with exceptionally excellent neo-Kenyan food videos that no one else on YouTube captures as well as I do. I am immensely proud of the strides I have made!
What does a food blogger do?
Food bloggers write about food.
How does a food blogger or any blogger earn money?
Through various avenues- the blog itself, through YouTube, through personal projects like authoring books and hosting dinners and through major brand partnerships.
How much money do you make, not in terms of figures but in terms of satisfaction?
Enough to live on, support myself, freely spoil myself and channel into expansion of my brand.
Other than food blogging what else do you like to do during your day?
I am a full time food blogger, that means my entire work day revolves around content creation- for myself and for brands, setting food related projects into motion and recipe development. It is a full time job and I understand people mistakenly think I am idle the whole day because I work from home and for myself, or I must be doing other things to survive, but Food blogging – and online content creation in general- is a full time job just like any other, and a lucrative one when executed right. Same way it would be so weird asking a doctor “So what else do you do during the day apart from treating people?”
At what level, and how many following did you have when you started earning or when you thought that this could be something big?
Number of followers has appeal to it but it is not as important as people think it is. What brands look at is engagement and quality of content one does. I do not know how many followers I had when I started earning as I do not keep count, but I do recall it was 2 years after I started (2016)
I always knew my brand would be big from the very day I started because I knew the value I was adding to the blogosphere. I always knew I would be among the best, if not the best, because of the constant pushing of boundaries I do and always topping my past best. As a result, I have won best Kenyan food blog 2016, 2017 and 2018, been short-listed among the world’s top food blogs in US published book Beyond The Plate, Featured on CNN international 5 times, once on Food Network and New York Times and partnered with major brands such as Guinness, Safaricom, Google, Unilever to mention a few. I always knew I would be great and this is only the beginning.
Food Blogging is a relatively new profession, so as a child what did you imagine to do when your grew up?
I wanted to be everything: A doctor, a model, a vet, a pilot, an architect, president etc. I studied Finance in Uni and practiced for a year before deciding to invest in my brand and become a food blogger. At the stage I am at, I enjoy my job deeply and get immense fulfilment from it. But life is not linear nor static and I am completely open to whichever direction this could evolve into no matter how different it will be.
When an online follower meets you in person, what sort of reaction do they have?
When an online follower meets you in person, what sort of reaction do they have? For those who come over to say hi, we just chat like normal cordial people would. Others don’t but later on DM me, which I do not mind as well. I love meeting my readers and watchers, as it reminds me that I am actually impacting actual people and I love putting faces to my numbers. However, fame is not a motivator of mine, and even if I was completely anonymous and no one recognized me, I would still be happy because the value I add would still be the same.
What are your goals for the future?
A lot is going on behind the scenes which I cannot yet disclose, however, it will be exciting for both my watchers and readers who I am very glad to bring along each chapter with me.