What begins around a family table can sometimes become something much bigger. In Greater Manchester, Jason Kwame Johnson and Rima Opoku-ware are building RJ’s Cuisine around an ambitious belief. African and Caribbean food should not have to surrender its identity to command a place at Britain’s premium hospitality table.
Their story stretches from Ghana and Jamaica to the United Kingdom. It carries the flavours, traditions and entrepreneurial resourcefulness that have helped generations of African and Caribbean diaspora communities create opportunities away from home.
Founded in 2022, RJ’s Cuisine is an African and Caribbean catering company specialising in weddings, corporate events, private celebrations, memorials and bespoke dining experiences. Jason is half Ghanaian and half Jamaican, while his wife and business partner, Rima, is Ghanaian. Their heritage sits at the heart of the company rather than simply appearing in its marketing.
Yet this is not only a story about food. It is about turning cultural inheritance into commercial opportunity and recognising value in something mainstream hospitality has not always represented fully.
Rima grew up around the industry. Her mother owns a restaurant in Ghana, and watching her work gave her an early appreciation of food and hospitality. That influence later combined with the couple’s love of experimenting with Ghanaian and Jamaican flavours.
Britain gave them an opportunity to turn that inheritance into a business. Jason and Rima saw a gap in an events industry where authentic African and Caribbean cuisine was not always represented at the level they believed it deserved. They saw particular opportunities across corporate functions, weddings and other major occasions.
Instead of diluting their food to fit an established hospitality model, they built their proposition around its identity.
RJ’s Cuisine combines Ghanaian and Jamaican influences with the standards expected of a professional British catering operation. Reliability, presentation, tailored menus and customer service sit alongside the food. Customers range from families and couples planning weddings to businesses seeking something beyond conventional event catering.
Their journey reflects something visible across many diaspora businesses. Entrepreneurs can turn family knowledge, cultural experience and existing skills into commercial opportunities when they identify gaps in established markets.
RJ’s Cuisine is attempting to take that model further. Jason and Rima do not want African and Caribbean cuisine merely accommodated within mainstream hospitality. They want it positioned confidently within it.
That ambition came into sharper focus with The Art of Taste by RJ’s Cuisine, a premium African and Caribbean dining experience created to take the company beyond traditional catering.
Food formed the foundation, but the couple built an experience around it. Music, entertainment, presentation and atmosphere came together to celebrate the cultures behind the cuisine.
Their long-term vision is to establish The Art of Taste as an annual event. As it develops, they want it to become a recognised platform celebrating African and Caribbean food, hospitality and culture.
Royal Nawaab provided the setting for the first edition, and the choice was deliberate. Jason and Rima wanted a venue that communicated scale, elegance and occasion.
They also wanted guests from African and Caribbean communities to see familiar cuisine presented with the sophistication routinely associated with other global food cultures.
“We wanted guests to leave associating The Art of Taste with excellence, culture, authenticity and sophistication,” they said.
Most importantly, the couple wanted people “to feel proud of the way African and Caribbean cuisine and culture were being presented.”
That ambition extends beyond presentation. Jason and Rima want to challenge perceptions that African and Caribbean food belongs mainly in informal or casual settings.
Their proposition is straightforward. These cuisines can be refined and beautifully presented within high-end hospitality while retaining the bold flavours and traditions that give them their identity.
The first Art of Taste provided an important test of that proposition.
Around 120 guests attended. They included couples searching for wedding caterers, businesses considering long-term catering relationships and diners wanting to experience premium African and Caribbean cuisine. According to RJ’s Cuisine, interest generated at the event also created opportunities beyond the evening itself.
That makes The Art of Taste more than a cultural showcase. It also serves as a live demonstration of what RJ’s Cuisine can deliver.
Potential clients experience the food, hospitality, service and atmosphere rather than simply reading a menu or looking through photographs. Weddings, corporate catering enquiries and commercial partnerships can then develop from that experience.
Behind the polished presentation sits the more demanding reality of building a hospitality business. Planning for The Art of Taste began around nine months before the event. Menu development and ingredient sourcing had to work alongside venue arrangements, suppliers, staff, décor, entertainment, marketing, ticketing and financial management.
A dedicated team covered kitchen operations, front-of-house service, event coordination, entertainment and other areas. Everyone needed to understand the same vision because the guest experience depended on those different elements working together.
Serving more than 100 people presented another challenge familiar to growing businesses: consistency. Success could no longer depend solely on the founders’ individual effort. Systems, suppliers, staff and processes had to produce the same quality across an entire room.
That shift from entrepreneurial hustle towards a business capable of scaling will become increasingly important as RJ’s Cuisine grows.
Its cultural identity remains central to that strategy. Ghanaian and Jamaican traditions influence the menus, hospitality and customer experience, while family knowledge provides a connection between generations.
Jason and Rima are willing to innovate, but they reject the idea that expansion requires abandoning what made the business distinctive.
“Growth is not about changing who we are to fit mainstream trends,” they said. “It is about creating a bigger platform for our culture.” That approach creates an interesting commercial proposition in Britain.
RJ’s Cuisine sees opportunities across weddings, private functions, corporate and contract catering, alongside premium experiences such as The Art of Taste. Interest is also coming from customers outside African and Caribbean communities. That gives the company room to broaden its market without abandoning the communities from which it emerged.
Corporate catering could become particularly important.Businesses seeking more diverse hospitality options offer RJ’s Cuisine the chance to turn occasional bookings into recurring commercial relationships. The company wants to work with organisations, venues, wedding planners, event professionals and hospitality operators seeking a reliable African and Caribbean catering partner.
The Art of Taste creates another route to growth. Potential collaborators include premium venues, food and beverage brands, cultural organisations, entertainment companies, media platforms and sponsors. Jason and Rima are also interested in working with African and Caribbean chefs, musicians, creatives and entrepreneurs.
That collaborative approach matters because resourcefulness can build a business, but networks often help it scale.
A growing hospitality operation creates opportunities beyond its founders. Caterers need suppliers. Events require venues, waiting staff, entertainers, decorators, photographers, marketers and other businesses. When those relationships develop intentionally, one successful diaspora enterprise can contribute to a much wider commercial ecosystem.
Jason and Rima want RJ’s Cuisine to participate in that bigger story. Over the next three to five years, their ambition is to establish the company as a recognised African and Caribbean hospitality brand across the UK. Expansion beyond Greater Manchester forms part of the plan, alongside stronger corporate partnerships and continued growth across weddings, events and bespoke dining.
The Art of Taste could travel too. Their immediate ambition is to establish it as an anticipated annual celebration. Longer term, they hope to take the concept into different British cities and potentially develop it into a larger cultural and hospitality experience.
It is an ambitious journey for a company established only in 2022. Yet its progress offers a compelling example of what can happen when heritage becomes an asset rather than something entrepreneurs believe they must leave behind.
Across Britain, African and Caribbean diaspora businesses continue to build from family knowledge, professional skills, community networks and cultural traditions. RJ’s Cuisine offers one example of how those resources can become the foundations of a commercially ambitious brand.
Jason and Rima are not simply preserving Ghanaian and Jamaican food in Britain. They are building a business around it and seeking a larger platform without treating authenticity as the price of commercial success.
Whether the customer is planning a wedding, organising a corporate function, seeking a catering partner or attending The Art of Taste, the proposition remains clear: African and Caribbean hospitality can be authentic, professional, commercially competitive and premium.
Perhaps the most compelling invitation from RJ’s Cuisine is also the simplest. “Whether our food reminds you of home or you are experiencing African and Caribbean cuisine for the first time, there is a place for you at our table.”
That table is getting bigger, and so is the ambition behind it. If Jason and Rima’s plans succeed, RJ’s Cuisine could become more than a catering company. It could help demonstrate how Britain’s African and Caribbean diaspora can turn cultural heritage into businesses, brands and opportunities built confidently on their own terms.
