Paul Raphaely has no qualification to do what he does – none at all.

In fact, by his own description, Paul Raphaely probably ought to have been a cavalry officer in a bygone era given an impossible task and little to no chance of success. This is what fires him up and endlessly frustrates his long-suffering wife and business partner, Tracy Foulkes.

His militaristic quirks aside, Paul does however have the painfully optimistic attitude of a real entrepreneur - the belief that anything is possible and anything can be achieved. This is the core of NoMU’s story and the very centre of what drives Paul and Tracy as innovative, South African entrepreneurs.

Paul is also a graduate of UCT with degree in politics, something or other and Tracy is a self-taught cook. They both have huge authority issues as well as big problems with the word ‘no’. They own two mongrel dogs and also have two beautiful little boys; Joseph and Adam (perhaps their best work so far). They live and work in Cape Town which is where they were both born and raised.

They employ 34 people and export their range of more than 78 unique and original products to 38 foreign markets and have been doing this for 10 years with no external support or help.

Personal thoughts on innovation and creativity

NoMU’s approach to innovation has always originated in purely selfish requirements. Tracy and I identified various products that were already available and then seen ways (which seemed obvious to us) that which we could improve those products or services and then try to market them.

NoMU still uses this level of intuition-led innovation in terms of our product directions. We then extended it to our methods/approach to packaging  and design. This was then capped off by whatever practical and affordable methods we could find to market and sell them.

That said South African food en masse is not particularly innovative and our tastes are quite conservative. Any attempt to innovate to begin with is already setting yourself up for quite a hard fight. However if you enjoy a good scrap and have a taste for trying something new, there are scarcely few other FMCG markets globally quite like South Africa. Our consumers to tend to notice new things quite easily in SA, even if they don’t necessary adopt them very quickly.

Therefore to be innovative is one thing but without the stamina and passion to drive it through for however long it takes, any idea is unlikely get much further than a nice topic of discussion at the dinner table.

A little bit about Tracy Foulkes

Tracy Foulkes is the heart and soul behind NoMU. Her passion for flavour inspired her to start the company in December 2000 in a very small, front room of her home in central Cape Town. Her love of spices and the stylish, uncomplicated way she loves to cook is very much evident in the NoMU range of products. Tracy is also well-known in South Africa as a food personality, appearing on television and live in a variety of promotional and food related programs and events. Tracy's photography, food styling and writing have also been featured in several magazines and now her monthly Recipe Mailer also allows her to exercise her favourite pastimes and passions while still on the job!

After almost one year, what had started as an experiment had now taken on real shape and Tracy asked her then boyfriend, Paul Raphaely, to join her as her business partner. As her first export enquiries began to arrive, she found that she was not able to cope and therefore asked Paul to leave a career in Brand Management and Advertising to help her make sense of the sudden expansion of her business. Shortly after this, Paul became a partner and took on the role of Managing Director and creative foil to Tracy's never-ending stream of new ideas.

Tracy and Paul are now married and still live and work in Cape Town but now also with their two littlest brand ambassadors, Joseph and Adam, firmly in tow and calling the shots!