'Nothing great is achieved without perseverance and hard work.' This is what our Personality of the week strongly advises to everyone aspiring to make something of themselves.
Sitting comfortably behind a computer in an office that is designed to inspire creativity, one wonders how a professional caterer, cake designer and florist can find motivation to ever leave her office and find the time to strike a balance between the demands of her career and the demands of her personal life.
Using every tool at her disposal, Efua Goode-Arthur capitalizes on every trend (traditional or modern) in order to add a unique dimension of excellence and characteristic superiority to her endeavors. She takes her job so seriously that she has incorporated a software program she has developed for cake designing.
Mrs. Efua Goode-Arthur welcomed the Sunday World team into her office to share part of her busy day with us. As the Director of her establishment, EKGS Culinary Institute, as well as the manager of her sales outlets, each and every day is demanding and full of activity.
She sees to the daily running of the institution by checking on her staff or the training team, sees to any stock turnovers, makes order lists ready for the supplies for both the institute and the sales outlets. These supplies come mainly in the form of equipment and tools needed by her students.
Mrs. Goode-Arthur is a creative mastermind who exceptionally designs cakes with African edible arts, such as kente designs. Pastries and dishes are made under highest standards of modern hygienic methods and equipments. Her cakes are also beautiful displays of the most interesting creative sugar art, where one's health is taken into account with cakes made in low sugar levels.
She also strives to bring to the delight of her clients, very innovative and creative floral décor with modern trends. Not only is she capable of completely transforming any occasion through the use of floral art, she also is able to train good professionals for the industry via her institute.
Located in a popular suburb of Accra known as Dansoman, EKGS Culinary Institute currently has a student population of 120; having trained over a thousand in eight years. The institute was established in 1999 with 6 students and now has a staff of 12 teachers and offers 5 courses: pastry making, cookery, cake-making and decorating, sugar art and floral arrangement courses with balloon and ribbon craft.
The Institute was named after her late father, with the letters 'EKGS'; the initials of her late dad, Mr. Ebenezer Kobina Goode, who had founded a Graphic Designing and Haulage enterprise known as EKG and Sons (EKGS).
EKGS Institute admits a range of students from professionals to non-professionals, who must at least be SSS graduates with keen interest in the art.
Past students have been employed by reputable establishments and companies such as Frankies, Golden Tulip Hotel, and Novotel to name but a few. In her own small way, she is positively contributing to the tourism and hospitality industries that help boost the economy of the nation.
The motivation to set up her school stemmed from her passion for cooking, which she remembers has always been a prevalent aspect in her life. She remembers always hovering around her mum when she was cooking and helping out in the kitchen.
As the sixth of 10 children, 4 brothers and 5 sisters, Mrs. Arthur was born in Swedru and bred in Accra. Her parents were Mr. Ebenezer Kobina Goode from Winneba who was a General Manager of Ghana National Trading Corporation (GNTC) now defunct and Mrs. Faustina Asumanba Eshun from Mankessim, who owned a bakery.
She started her primary education at the Ridge Church School in Accra.
Efua's choice of profession 'Nothing great is achieved without perseverance and hard work.' This is what our personality of the week strongly advises everyone aspiring to make something of themselves to stick to.
Sitting comfortably behind a computer in an office that is designed to inspire creativity, one wonders how a professional caterer, cake designer and florist can find motivation to ever leave her office and find the time to strike a balance between the demands of her career and the demands of her personal life.
Using every tool at her disposal, Efua Goode-Arthur capitalizes on every trend (traditional or modern) in order to add a unique dimension of excellence and characteristic superiority to her endeavors. She takes her job so seriously that she has incorporated a software program she has developed for cake designing.
Mrs. Efua Goode-Arthur welcomed the Sunday World team into her office to share part of her busy day with us. As the Director of her establishment, EKGS Culinary Institute, as well as the manager of her sales outlets; each and every day is demanding and full of activity.
She sees to the daily running of the institution by checking on her staff or the training team, sees to any stock turnovers, makes order lists ready for the supplies for both the institute and the sales outlets. These supplies come mainly in the form of equipment and tools needed by her students.
Mrs. Goode-Arthur is a creative mastermind who exceptionally designs cakes with African edible arts, such as kente designs. Pastries and dishes are made under highest standards of modern hygienic methods and equipments. Her cakes are also beautiful displays of the most interesting creative sugar art, where one's health is taken into account with cakes made in low sugar levels.
She also strives to bring to the delight of her clients, very innovative and creative floral décor with modern trends. Not only is she capable of completely transforming any occasion through the use of floral art, she also is able to train good professionals for the industry via her institute.
Located in a popular suburb of Accra known as Dansoman, EKGS Culinary Institute currently has a student population of 120; having trained over a thousand in eight years. The institute was established in 1999 with 6 students and now has a staff of 12 teachers and offers 5 courses: pastry making, cookery, cake-making and decorating, sugar art and floral arrangement courses with balloon and ribbon craft.
The Institute was named after her late father, with the letters 'EKGS'; the initials of her late dad, Mr. Ebenezer Kobina Goode, who had founded a Graphic Designing and Haulage enterprise known as EKG and Sons (EKGS).
EKGS Institute admits a range of students from professionals to non-professionals, who must at least be SSS graduates with keen interest in the art.
Past students have been employed by reputable establishments and companies such as Frankies, Golden Tulip Hotel, and Novotel to name but a few. In her own small way, she is positively contributing to the tourism and hospitality industries that help boost the economy of the nation.
The motivation to set up her school stemmed from her passion for cooking, which she remembers has always been a prevalent aspect in her life. She remembers always hovering around her mum when she was cooking and helping out in the kitchen.
As the sixth of 10 children, 4 brothers and 5 sisters, Mrs. Arthur was born in Swedru and bred in Accra. Her parents were Mr. Ebenezer Kobina Goode from Winneba who was a General Manager of Ghana National Trading Corporation (GNTC) now defunct and Mrs. Faustina Asumanba Eshun from Mankessim, who owned a bakery.
She started her primary education at the Ridge Church School in Accra.
Efua's choice of profession can be said to 'run-in-the-family' as her mum was also a professional baker. Her passion was so strong and talent so prevalent that even during her secondary school years at St. Mary's Secondary School in Accra, she often took orders from friends for their birthday cakes. 'This encouraged me very much', she confessed.
For her GCE.0' Levels, she specialized in Home Economics, later furthered her culinary knowledge by taking up an HND 812/1&2 Food and Nutrition Course at the Accra Polytechnic, stressing, "I just needed to upgrade myself."
Not satisfied with her studies at the polytechnic which mainly dealt with food and nutrition in general, she opted to study in a particular specialization. Efua enrolled at the Hutchcraft School of Cake Decorating in 1990 to pursue the cake making and decorating course.
She then went on a year's internship with the then Ghana Airways Flight Catering Services, where she gained much experience. 'It broadened my knowledge in the food and nutrition business as I learnt more on how to set up and dish food', she explains.
However, her service there did not last long as her working hours were not favourable. She frequently worked until the early hours of the morning and both her parents, who were strong Christians and strict disciplinarians, did not think it was safe for their daughter to go to work at 5pm, only to ply the lonely quite airport route back home at 4am. 'My dad saw this quite risky for a lady and with their collective insistence, I had to comply and quit,' she recounts.
Efua with the help of her dad set up her own business, taking orders for birthdays, weddings, engagements etc. This her clients appreciated tremendously which encouraged her to add a training section to her services.
Hindrances were not out of her path from the on set. Initially, tools and equipments were not easily available; whiles people were also not conversant with edibles with flowers such as her decorated cakes.
It was at this point that she began to supply the then Multi Stores with flowers. This was how she started and slowly expanded her business to its current state. She had to engage in repurchasing culinary items she had supplied to the stores for use at the production sector of her business and the slow, but steady increase in patronage created a long-lasting and irrefutable reputation as being one of the nations leading caterers.
She admits that the business of cake designing and decorating has been in Ghana for a long time but has become more popular in recent times due to the increase in training schools.
'Due to this, cake industry is booming and very competitive. You must therefore be creative, innovative and customer service conscious in order to stay in business and on top', she stressed. 'One can't stick to the old fashioned ways of making cake', she added
And it is the very reason which makes her work stand out, as her creativity, coupled with modern methods, tools and equipments enhance, simplify and make her work easier and hygienic.
Whiles her husband Mr. Noah Arthur, a financial analyst takes care of her supply orders of tools and equipments imported from the UK and US, she gets her materials and ingredients from the local market.
Mrs. Goode-Arthur deals with all classes of individuals of the social hierarchy and corporate clients including Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, GBC and Ghana Telecom, taking orders mostly for their annual events.
She has gone internationally to broaden her knowledge by partaking in a workshop and competition in the United States organized by the American Culinary Federation (ACF), where she was awarded a participatory certificate.
She gained much experience from participating. 'We had privileges of sharing new ideas and testing our prowess in the industry which built us up', she said.
Efua firmly believes that much can be done to improve the cake designing industry in Ghana, especially by instituting a regulatory body for it, which is currently not in existence.
'We must come together as an association and put in place rules and regulations for a better delivering system. We must also strive to use local ingredients more often', she suggested.
She also cautioned the industry to be made gender sensitive to promote it more. She was not happy about the current state in that the culinary art is a female-dominated field 'Among all the120 students in my institute, there are only three males', she lamented.
Mrs. Goode-Arthur loves gardening during her leisure period as she loves watching flowers germinate and bloom.
She enjoys rice and fish cabbage stew, and fellowships with The First Century Gospel Church.
Efua advises the youth who want to climb the success ladder to take their lessons seriously and not always aim at white colour jobs. 'Nothing great is achieved without pain and labour. They should be focused and be in tune with the Lord', she cautioned.
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