The V&A Waterfront will develop the Makers Landing, a local food incubator for South African flavours and culture, as part of the Cape Town Cruise Terminal.

This is expected to be completed by September and open to the public by December.

"Makers Landing is the next phase of an overarching plan by the V&A Waterfront to develop the Cape Town Cruise Terminal area. When complete, Makers Landing will create jobs, act as an incubator for the food industry and will add a further 4 348 m² to the existing cruise terminal developed by the Waterfront in 2015 for State-owned rail company Transnet," the V&A Waterfront says.

The original terminal was a small industrial building on the edge of E-Berth that served as a pre-cooling facility for fruit exports.

“Maker’s Landing will be an inspiring, edgy space for new food concepts and ideas to flourish in the spectacular setting of an active port, with its dramatic backdrop of Table Mountain. It will capture the rich story of South African cultures, foods, flavours and food producers for locals to enjoy and for visitors to discover,” says V&A Waterfront CEO David Green.

Given the seasonality of the cruise industry, the R63-million multi-use Makers Landing development will encourage year-round activity in the port area.

The new facility is within walking distance of the Waterfront Silo District and is expected to attract footfall from within the waterfront, as well as the Port of Cape Town.

It is also a short water-taxi ride away from the Cape Town Convention Centre.

“We came across this idea internationally, having seen the success of food incubators in providing food at accessible pricing and creating jobs. We are incubating opportunities on a platform that lends itself to year-round operation, offering food at accessible prices, with the opportunity to turbo-charge interest during the peak tourism season when local and international visitors flock to the Western Cape,” says Green.

"We are repurposing what was a cold storage facility into a food incubator that will generate in excess of 150 much needed jobs and will build connections between foodpreneurs."

The V&A Waterfront is calling for applications from small food businesses, entry-level to top chefs, food producers and everyone in between.

In addition to clear talent, the curators’ focus will be on authentic South African foods and diversity, quality and freshness, variety of flavours, ethical and local sourcing, and affordability and value.