CN&CO Publishing wins award for best book in the world

At the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, also known as the cookbook Oscars, held in Sweden on 27 May 2023, There’s a Vegan on my Verandah, a book co-published by CN&CO Publishing and Louis Jansen van Vuuren, won the award for the best vegan cookbook in the world.

The book, additionally available in an Afrikaans (already in its second print run) and a French edition, was also a finalist in the self-published books category.

Attending the event were authors Jansen van Vuuren and Isabella Niehaus (a previous winner for her book Duinhuis) and Hardy Olivier, part of the team who worked with CN&CO’s Rikus Kok, Penny Hickinbotham and Carel Nolte to produce and distribute the book.

Says Nolte: “It has been a real privilege and joy to work with Louis and Isabella on their book. Not only is it filled with wonderful recipes, it is beautifully crafted. One of the reasons the authors approached us to help them self-publish was their desire for full creative control – and their magnificent vision was aided by legendary photographer Yvette Jordaan. Congratulations to the whole team!”

The book (in its Afrikaans version) was launched in October 2022 at the Woordfees in Stellenbosch, where it also won an award and was one of the top sellers at the Writer’s Festival (which is sponsored by CN&CO partner EasyEquities). Soon thereafter, the authors, supported by Olivier, embarked on a PR tour taking them across South Africa and Namibia. Their European PR tour kicks off in France in the next month. Continues Nolte: “Bella is a PR genius and it has been wonderful to learn from her, work with her and help the team spread the news of our book across print, TV, radio, events and festivals! Self-publishing is hard work, but extremely rewarding and the support we have had from booksellers, the public and our networks has been extraordinary.”

CN&CO, alongside Media24 TV, also produced a near hour-long documentary Tuin&Spens, which took its inspiration from the book and was flighted to great success during December 2022 and early 2023. Says Kok, who is a co-presenter in the documantary, largely filmed at Jansen van Vuuren and Olivier’s home in the French countryside: “As a – big – meat-eater, both the book and documenary opened my eyes to the richness of vegan dishes. Many of these I have now tried as complemenatry dishes to braais. The vegan movement is not a new one, but certainly one gaining ground as more and more people discover the benefits, and delicious tastes, of vegan cooking”.

The documentary is now also available in an English and French version thanks to WYRD films who also worked with CN&CO who, as producers, were responsible for the hugely popular Mooi Frankryk in partenrship with EasyEquities, presented by Anet Pienaar-Vosloo. Says Nolte: “CN&CO Publishing and CN&CO Productions is delighted at the international success of these projects and we are already working on a few others for our clients. One of these is AMI Underwriting Managers, an insurance brand co-founded by myself and well-known insurance entrepreneur Christelle Colman. CN&CO partner Kurt Solomon is head of sales and distribution and I am very excited about the upcoming projects.”