Kaleema and Kareema Shakur Muhammad are identical twins and founders of Livity Plant based Cuisine. I am so fascinated by these two as it is highly unusual to see twin chefs let alone Vegan Twin Chefs. They have taken the scene by storm with their delicious and creative Caribbean vegan offerings. I had a chat with them and I hope you would enjoy reading what I found out about them.
Please introduce yourselves and talk a little about your journey to becoming a vegan Chefs.
Greetings! We are Kaleema and Kareema, vegan chefs and owners of Livity Plantbased Cuisine. Our journey began at age 13 when we both decided to go vegetarian. This lead to us falling in love with cooking. At age 16 we did 3 years in catering college. Then straight into the industry. We worked in a professional kitchen for 10 years. After changing to a vegan diet 4 years ago, we decided it was time for a new chapter.
What inspired Livity plantbased?
Our love and passion for food and feeding people lead to us creating Livity. Our job no longer served us, so it’s was time to create our own path.
How do you balance your personal commitments and business?
It’s a constant juggling act, in all honesty, it’s difficult. Pre covid it was a must that we went on holiday, every year to rejuvenate.
What is it like working together as siblings/twins? Do you always agree on directions for the business?
Working together is both fun and stressful. I always say the best thing is that we neither have to doubt trust or commitment. We are on the same page the majority of the time. Any issues are easily resolved. We give thanks.
It’s amazing that both of you chose the same path but if you weren’t cooking, what else would you be doing?
I know how perfect!! If we weren’t cooking, Kaleema said she would be a lady of leisure, lol . We both have wanted to work with young people, in the social care sector.
What do you think about the black vegan space? Is enough spotlight is being shone on our kind of food?
We feel like, the black vegan space is defining expanding and thriving. I do feel like there needs to more spotlight on black vegan businesses, outside of our community. Our type of food is still a bit niche. It needs to be more mainstream.
