Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

The Bearded Chef ("we", "us", "our") provides private chef, catering, spit braai, platter and mobile kitchen services. We are the "responsible party" for the personal information described in this policy, as defined in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA").

Contact: Marc • 065 891 6711 • info@thebeardedchef.co.za • Centurion Gate Office Park, 124 Akkerboom Street, Centurion, Pretoria.

2. What information we collect

We collect only what we need to quote for and deliver our services, including:

• Contact details you provide — name, phone number, email address;
• Event details — date, venue address, headcount, menu preferences, dietary requirements and allergies;
• Billing information needed for invoicing and payment reconciliation;
• Correspondence with us (email, phone, WhatsApp, website enquiry form);
• Basic technical information collected automatically by our website host (such as IP address and browser type) for security and site performance.

Dietary and allergy information may reveal health or religious information. We treat it as special personal information, use it only for preparing safe, suitable food for your event, and delete it when it is no longer needed.

3. Why we process it

• To respond to enquiries and prepare quotations;
• To plan, prepare and deliver catering services you have booked;
• To invoice and process payments;
• To communicate about your booking (confirmations, changes, logistics);
• To comply with legal obligations (tax, accounting and food safety records);
• With your consent, to send you occasional news or offers — you can opt out at any time.

4. Sharing your information

We do not sell personal information. We share it only with:

• Service providers who help us operate (e.g. accounting, email and website hosting), under confidentiality obligations;
• Suppliers or venue staff where strictly necessary to deliver your event;
• Authorities where the law requires it.

If any provider stores information outside South Africa, we ensure a level of protection substantially similar to POPIA applies.

5. How long we keep it

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes above, and thereafter only where the law requires it (for example, financial records are kept for the periods prescribed by tax legislation). Enquiry details that do not lead to a booking are deleted within a reasonable period.

6. How we protect it

We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures to secure personal information against loss, damage and unauthorised access — including access controls on our devices and accounts and secure, reputable hosting. If a data breach occurs that affects you, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by section 22 of POPIA.

7. Your rights

Under POPIA you may, at any time:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you;
• Request correction or deletion of your personal information;
• Object to processing, including for direct marketing;
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa) — inforegulator.org.za, enquiries@inforegulator.org.za.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@thebeardedchef.co.za. See our POPIA Notice for more detail.

8. Cookies

Our website is a simple informational site and does not set marketing or tracking cookies. Our hosting provider may use strictly necessary technical logs for security and performance.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on this page, with the "last updated" date above.