Last year, Yitayish Abebe, a mother of four, attended a family event. The occasion was one of a kind. As opposed to her usual experience, food was not served by the hosts, who were just sitting and enjoying the moment. To her astonishment, everything went well at the event where she had delicious food cooked and served to her by a catering company, which, in addition to the meals, had also brought the utensils and equipment needed for the occasion.

Excited, Yitayish did not just go back home empty-handed, taking with her their contact address. Learning from the experience of her relatives, Yitayish did not hesitate to call the food service provider to organise another event and save the hustle and bustle on her part. This is how she met her favourite catering company to date, Kal's Kitchen, which she has since hired for a fellowship attended by 50 people and her son's graduation.

“Raising four kids and working long hours, I don't usually have the energy to make food, especially during occasions, which requires more time and being zealous," said Yitayish, describing her circumstances. For her, escaping traditions that require women to handle household chores is now as simple as ABC, thanks to catering service providers, which seem to be cropping up everywhere.

The catering industry is not new to Addis Abeba, though few establishments have been successful in the market thus far. Previous experience indicates that catering services used to be provided as an extension of the hotel and restaurant business, while their customers were usually large organisations that tend to have events frequently. As consumer habits change, it looks like the market is entering into a new normal.

"As people started to feel the trouble of doing the bulk of work while cooking food, catering service providers are becoming the best, if not only, option among households to serve a variety of food which their guests are craving for," says Fisseha Asres, a hotel and tourism consultant having more than two decades of experience.

With the business requiring a comparatively small amount of capital, individuals with great cooking skills together with entrepreneurial ability have also started to explore this opportunity; a situation that contributes to increasing employment as businesses begin to hire cooks, assistants, and servers. Kalkidan Seyoum, the owner of Kal's Kitchen, is one of such a kind.

Kalkidan never imagined that her cooking skills could easily be turned into a business opportunity until she received encouragement from her family and friends, who always enjoy her meals whenever they come to her house to attend gatherings that she organises. In 2011, she decided to capitalise on her skill with a capital of just 10,000 Br to buy kitchen utensils.

"I didn't expect that the business would boom swiftly," said Kalkidan. "When I started the business, I had around 20 customers. Now I have over 100 and sometimes serve up to 1,000 people at a single event."

Most catering service providers cover a wide range of events, from birthdays and baby showers to weddings and mourning ceremonies, with very few focusing on a particular food or certain kinds of events. Catering prices are determined by the number of guests who are going to be served and the types of food ordered by the client. On average, they currently charge between 80 and 450 Birr a plate, while it can go as high as 1,000 Br if a client wants to have delicacies like doro wet. Prices also go up when clients request that food be packaged for them to take abroad.

The peak season for those in catering is usually during festive seasons, particularly in September, January, May, and June, and after the end of fasting seasons. This however does not mean that business activities cease during the slack season.