It feels like a miracle to go out these days and the sun is not attempting to melt your brain. But when one walks through places like the Imbuga City Walk formerly the car free zone in downtown Kigali, where it is quiet, green, and a bit cooler, it gets better. When I went there on a Tuesday at noon, everyone seemed to mind their business. Some were seated on benches, others were walking through, while photographers approached random people to ask them if they would like a picture, at a fee. I was reminded that schools are closed because several children were laughing out loud riding their bicycles. There were a couple of women who looked tired seated on one of the benches, one breastfeeding her baby. Across the street was Fratteli’s Brussels, a Belgian cuisine restaurant that has existed for six years. Fenced with flower vases and plants, the place looked busy with several chicken being roasted on display, one could easily tell they were getting ready for a busy lunch. Inside were two young women chatting as they were making paper cones, probably for the fries, since this is the restaurant’s main delicacy, together with fried chicken. I couldn’t help but imagine myself in Brussels because of pictures of different places and monuments hung inside the restaurant, such as the Manneken-pis, La Grande-Place, and Cinquantenaire, which I imagine are famous or important in Belgium. Nevertheless, what is more interesting about this restaurant is that it is among the very few that serve Made in Rwanda mayonnaise to diners. But this only started six months ago, when they met Cindy Ruta, a Rwandan entrepreneur who has made it her mission to reduce mayonnaise imports, but also encourage people to eat healthy. Ruta was born in Kinshasa, DR Congo, to Rwandan and Belgian parents, who later left for Belgium years later due to insecurities in the DR Congo at the time. She first came to Rwanda in 2007 for holidays, when she had just finished high school. By then, she badly wanted to join one of the universities in the country because of her love for Rwanda. “It was like a very big crush. When we moved to Belgium, we didn’t have our family around, but I was used to it because even in Congo, it was mostly my friends. Our family was scattered; some in Burundi, others in Congo, and some of them stayed here,” Ruta said. Made In Rwanda mayonnaise that are currently available in Kigali. According to Ruta, her mission is to reduce mayonnaise imports and encourage people to eat healthy. But when she came to Rwanda, it was different. She got to know about her family and felt like she belonged, she said. “It’s not like I had an identity crisis in Europe, because I was also feeling Belgian. But when I came here it was different; it was home, and this is something I knew from my childhood,” Ruta added. She had to return to Belgium after two months, but she knew she would grow up some day and do whatever she wanted, which at the time included coming back to Rwanda. Ruta moved on with her life, finished school, worked in the banking sector, then went to an import-export company, yet none of it was fulfilling enough. “It is not like I wasn’t seeing my life there, taking care of everything- which I am doing, but it was not challenging at some point,” Ruta said. Ten years after her first visit, she came back to plan for her cousin’s wedding in 2017. “We were eating a lot of brochettes and fries. I was wondering how I ate more fries in just one month than in my whole life. Of course, we were having ketchup and mayonnaise, so I thought to myself that maybe this is my call, and it could be something to eventually explore,” Ruta said. She went back to Belgium with the business idea, and had back and forth trips to see if it would work out for her, and in 2019, she moved to Rwanda for good. “It was a big thing. I got to meet more people from my family, made new friends. I registered the company in 2019, and I set up my first office in 2020. It took almost a year to settle in,” she added. Her company, Saser Sauce, started off with mayonnaise, her flagship and most famous product, and then came up with others over time, given her ‘obsession’ with cooking. At the time of the interview, she was trying out other recipes for more products she wants to add to the shelf. From her apartment, she makes mayonnaise classic, garlic mayonnaise, tarragon mayonnaise, curry mayonnaise, and cocktail mayonnaise which contains some bit of whiskey. She also makes chives vinaigrette, tarragon vinaigrette, classic ketchup, and barbecue sauce. Made In Rwanda mayonnaise that are currently available in Kigali. According to Ruta, her mission is to reduce mayonnaise imports and encourage people to eat healthy. Frederick Di Vita, the owner of Fratteli’s Brussels, told The New Times that he has served Saser Sauce mayonnaise to his customers for six months now, and they enjoy it. “We used to serve the imported Everyday mayonnaise, but the diners enjoy this one,” Vita said. Ruta has managed to sell more than two tons of mayonnaise since 2020, and is already working with a few restaurants, but the plan is to go bigger. While this may sound like success, she still faces challenges that include market penetration, and people comparing her products to imported ones. “Most people I have met try to compare me with other industries. But this is mayonnaise, it’s not different from what they find out there. I understand that they probably have not met someone who makes mayonnaise like this, so it’s normal. I understand why they feel a bit reluctant,” Ruta said. Another challenge is that people expect her prices to be lower than imported products, but she says it shouldn’t be the case. Nevertheless, those who have tried her products, not just Fratteli’s Brussels, appreciate them. She doesn’t use preservatives, for healthy eating purposes, and packs in glass jars, for ecological purposes. Ruta plans to add several products to her shelf, such as onion jam and syrup.
