Wonderbag

18/05/2026

🔥 Energy Crisis Hits Home: Food or Fuel? 🔥

Families across South Africa face a cold and expensive winter. Only on the 6th May, the price of inland illuminating paraffin jumped to R28.43 a litre, forcing people without reliable electricity to choose between heating their rooms, lighting their spaces, and cooking their meals.

Paraffin, a petroleum-derived product, remains critical for cooking and heating in rural SA households without reliable electricity or where electricity is too costly. But with prices skyrocketing, families are being forced into an impossible position.

South Africa's energy challenges are becoming more acute as infrastructure constraints, rising tariffs and economic pressures converge. For many households, particularly in lower-income communities, the rising cost of paraffin and electricity has direct implications for food security and daily well-being.

"Electricity is going up again, and for many families, there's very little room left in the budget to absorb these increases," says Sarah Collins, Founder & CEO. "What we're offering is not a luxury, but a practical, everyday tool that helps households take back some control over their energy use. Every time you cook with WONDERBAG, you're saving energy and money."

🌟 How it works: Once your pot reaches boiling point, simply place it inside your WONDERBAG. It continues cooking for hours without drawing any power – saving you energy, money, and precious time.

✅ Saves up to 70% on cooking energy
✅ R3-R5 savings per meal (curry & rice, stews, soups)
✅ R100+ per month when used daily

Through our WONDERBAG Foundation, we're distributing bags to communities hardest hit by the energy crisis. Want to help? Learn more about how you can get involved or contribute to making a real difference in families' lives.

👉 Link in bio to find out more about how you can buy a WONDERBAG wherever you are in the world, or how to support our community work in South Africa, Ukraine and the Middle East via the WONDERBAG Foundation.

10/05/2026

Lerato Umah-Shaylor has created the ultimate Mother's Day celebration with her Mothered Oxtail recipe - a love letter to mothers everywhere, inspired by tender memories of her dear friend's mum cooking oxtail in Malawi.

🌟 Food truly carries so much love across generations, and this one-pan African delicacy embodies that beautifully.

And what better way to cook it than in our ingenious - a sustainable cooking solution that supports women across the world while creating perfectly tender meals, using less energy?

📚 Find the full recipe in her cookbook "Africana" or get it delivered straight to your inbox via her newsletter this Sunday!

Perfect for Mother's Day celebrations in South Africa, the USA and beyond. ❤️

08/05/2026

We are excited to share that WONDERBAG is delivering life-saving cooking solutions to families in Ukraine through our "WONDERBAGs to Ukraine" initiative 🇺🇦

As Ukraine continues to face sustained attacks on energy infrastructure, millions of families are navigating daily life with unreliable electricity, limited heating, and scarce fuel for cooking. In response, we've partnered with the Legacy of War Foundation and the international movement to provide heat-retention cooking bags that enable households to prepare warm meals while using far less energy.

This initiative builds on our 2022 donation of over 3,000 WONDERBAGs to Ukrainian organizations assisting displaced families. Through this program, each purchase using the code 'Wonderbagstoukraine' helps subsidize a bag for a household in need, with WONDERBAG matching contributions to fund complete units.

Together, we're bringing warmth, resilience, and dignity to families navigating the realities of war through practical, energy-efficient cooking solutions.

Read the full story here: https://businessexplainer.co.za/deals/2026/05/07/wonderbag-delivers-life-saving-cooking-tools-to-households-in-ukraine/

29/04/2026

22/04/2026

Wonderbag 2026 Birthday News - from our founder, Sarah Collins

Celebrating another year of Wonderbag: a story of heat, hope, and human ingenuity

"As Wonderbag celebrates its birthday in 2026, I find myself reflecting not only on how far we have come, but on the extraordinary people, communities, and quiet daily acts of resilience that have shaped this journey.

Wonderbag began with a simple idea: that retained heat cooking could save time, fuel, money, and energy — while reducing smoke, easing household labour, and supporting a healthier planet. What started as a practical solution has grown into a global movement rooted in dignity, care, and possibility.

Over the years, Wonderbag has reached homes, schools, community kitchens, humanitarian programmes, and climate projects across the world. But behind every number is a person. A mother cooking with less fuel. A child with more time to study. A family saving money. A community reducing emissions without losing the food traditions that hold them together.

In 2026, our work feels more important than ever.

Climate change, energy poverty, food insecurity, and women’s unpaid labour are not separate challenges. They are deeply connected. Wonderbag sits right at that intersection — offering a practical, scalable, low-tech solution that supports people and the planet at the same time.

This year, we are continuing to strengthen our carbon work, deepen our monitoring and verification systems, and build transparent, high-integrity impact data. We are also expanding partnerships that allow Wonderbag to reach more households and communities where it can make the greatest difference.

For me, Wonderbag has always been about more than cooking. It is about agency. It is about giving people a tool that works with their lives, not against them. It is about honouring local wisdom while meeting global challenges. It is about proving that climate solutions do not have to be complicated to be powerful.

As Founder, I want to thank every person who has believed in Wonderbag: our team, our partners, our community researchers, our funders, our customers, and the millions of users who have made this technology part of their daily lives.

You are the heartbeat of Wonderbag.

Happy birthday to this beautiful, stubborn, world-changing idea.

Here’s to another year of cooking with less, saving more, and keeping the heat where it belongs." Sarah Collins, Founder of Wonderbag

15/04/2026

Make soup, not war.

Today we’re sharing a post from our friend & supporter, the wonderful food writer, cook, & pulse obsessive

Her photo shows a Wonderbag resting on her reading chair, alongside artwork by Lebanese artist — Make Soup Not War. A protest poster, & a piece of everyday beauty.

We’ll be thinking of this as we cook from Jad Youssef’s , a book that celebrates the flavours, traditions, & spirit of Lebanese cooking (his gorgeous Mdardara recipe is up on our website)

Because both remind us of the same thing:
Food is care.
Food is culture.
Food is resistance.

At a time when energy feels expensive & uncertain, how we cook matters.

Wonderbag offers a simple way to use less energy, retain heat, & support families who need it most.

Sales of all Wonderbags from our website support the work of The Wonderbag Foundation across the world.
Buy a Wonderbag to help support our work, or head to the link in our bio to donate directly.

04/04/2026

From London to Kyiv, with love ❤️

Our first delivery of from our distribution hub in the UK will arrive in Ukraine next week, thanks to our ongoing collaboration with and .official

With ongoing disruption to energy supplies and rising costs, many households — and especially women managing daily cooking — are facing real challenges preparing meals safely and consistently throughout Ukraine. Our Wonderbags help families use less fuel, retain heat, and cook even when power is limited — offering practical, everyday support when it matters most.

For more information on how to support this work, and send more vital Wonderbags to Ukraine, head to the link section in our profile ⬆️ or head to this page:
www.wonderbagworld.com/pages/wonderbags-to-ukraine

Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far.

Buy one. Support one. Help us reach more women and families 👍🏼

Thank you to and Tash for their knowledge, hard work and photography, to get this project going ❤️

01/04/2026

Slow-cooked lamb is one of the most requested recipes from our Wonderbag customers - and it’s easy to see why. Slow-cooked in the Wonderbag, it not only makes the lamb incredibly tender and full of flavour, but also cuts down energy use in the kitchen by up to 70%.

It's a no-brainer for hosting as you only need one moment of attention - bring it to the boil, place it in the Wonderbag - and then you can get on with the rest of your day. Even if you forget or get distracted, nothing burns or overcooks.

As Sami Tamimi wrote in his Guardian column last week, "Across the Middle East and Mediterranean, lamb symbolises generosity and celebration, especially at Easter, when roasting it remains an adored tradition." We couldn’t agree more here in South Africa, and are looking forward to cooking our own celebratory slow-cooked lamb over the weekend.

We’ve served it with a simple ratatouille, using seasonal vegetables added to the pan in the final 45 minutes of cooking - allowing them to soften and soak up all those rich, fragrant juices from the lamb.

Head to the Recipe Page Link in our bio for more Wonderbag recipes ⬆

23/03/2026

Onion, lentils + rice tucked into the .
A little later → Mdardara.
Simple ingredients. Deep roots.

Some stories deserve to travel far — because every recipe carries a memory of home.

We are honoured to share a recipe for Mdardara from Jad Youssef’s first book, Lebnani, published today — generously adapted by Jad for the Wonderbag.

Lebnani is more than a cookbook. It is the meals, the traditions, the flavours passed from one generation to the next. And throughout it all, family stories — of za’atar gathered wild, of warm mana’eesh shared in the morning — grounding Lebanese food in gratitude, connection, & resilience.

Born in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War, Jad learned to cook in his mother Khadija’s kitchen & his father’s pastry shop — where food was rooted in family, memory & pride. After leading kitchens in Oslo and London, he founded Yalla Yalla — one of London’s first Lebanese street food restaurants, & where the Wonderbag UK team first encountered him — before going on to run the award-winning Lebnani with his wife Aga.

“I wrote Lebnani because I could see our food slowly losing its soul. Lebanese cuisine is not a trend, not a twist, & not something to be reinvented — it is heritage, memory, & family. It is the smell of the kitchen growing up, the patience in every dish, & the pride passed from one generation to the next.

This book is a way to preserve the flavours, traditions, & spirit of Lebanese cooking, & to share what real Lebanese food truly is — honest, deeply rooted, & unapologetically authentic.”

RECIPE - https://wonderbag.co.uk/blogs/wonderbag-recipes/mdardara-hearty-green-lentils-rice-with-caramelised-onions-by-jad-youssef

14/03/2026

SUPPORT WOMEN & FAMILIES AFFECTED BY GLOBAL CONFLICT

For over 15 years, the WONDERBAG Foundation has supported women and families facing hardship around the world.

As global conflict, displacement, and rising living costs push more communities into crisis, women are often left carrying the responsibility of feeding their families with little or no access to fuel, energy, or safe cooking methods.

Today, the WONDERBAG Foundation is reopening its donation page to help deliver practical, life-sustaining support to women and families affected by this global conflict.

Working with trusted humanitarian partners on the ground, we help provide WONDERBAGs alongside essential aid and support to some of the hardest-hit communities. We also work with women within these communities to strengthen local livelihoods by manufacturing WONDERBAGs locally and playing key roles in delivering the programme where it is needed most, empowering women to support their families and communities.

A WONDERBAG heat-retention cooking bag can reduce the fuel needed for cooking by up to 70%, helping families prepare nourishing meals with far less energy — even in the most challenging conditions.

Your donation will help deliver WONDERBAGs, practical support, and greater food security to women and families who need it most.

Together, we can help bring warm meals, dignity, and hope to families living through crisis.

Donate today through the WONDERBAG Foundation via wonderbagworld.com/pages/donate (LINK IN OUR BIO)

Team WONDERBAG

12/03/2026

COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED - THE WINNER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED

SOUTH AFRICAN RAMADAN G🌙 SOUTH AFRICAN RAMADAN G 🌙

Cooking for Iftar or preparing for Eid al-Fitr? We’ve got the perfect pairing for you!🍲📖

✨ Wonderbag's Ramadan special helps you save energy while cooking your favourite meals for Iftar. Their exclusive bundle for SA Customers - R350 - includes 1 Large Wonderbag, alongside 2 Fabric Placemats until the end of March.

✨ Looking for recipe inspiration? Fehmz is known for her bold flavours, joyful cooking style, and delicious recipes that bring people together. Her cookbook Damn Good Food is packed with comforting, flavourful dishes perfect for Ramadan, Iftar gatherings, and Eid celebrations✨

🎁 One lucky winner will receive:
• A Wonderbag and 2 fabric placemats
• A copy of Fehmz’s cookbook Damn Good Food

Together this proudly South African, vibrant and iconic pairing makes Ramadan cooking easier, more joyful and full of flavour.

To enter:
✨ Follow Fehmz and Wonderbag
❤️ Like this post
👥 Tag someone you'd share Iftar with

* You can enter on Facebook or Instagram — or both for an extra entry! *

🌙 Winner will be announced on Eid!



COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED - THE WINNER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED