Who we are

TAM is a Cantonese-style dumpling and signature-dish food business based in Cape Town, South Africa. TAM is the trading name of House of Tam (Pty) Ltd, registration number (2026/769815/07) (“TAM”, “we”, “us”, “our”).

Our website address is https://tamkitchen.co.za.

For the purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”), TAM is the “responsible party” for the personal information we collect through this website.

We respect your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and what rights you have.

What personal information we collect

We only collect the information we need. Depending on how you use the website, this may include:

• Contact and enquiry details: your name, email address, phone number, and the content of your message when you contact us through the website, email, WhatsApp or social media.
  
• Wholesale and retail enquiries: your name, business name, business contact details, and the products, quantities or delivery details you ask about.
  
• Comments: the details in the comment form (name, email address, website, and your comment), plus your IP address and browser user agent string to help detect spam.
  
• Job or helper applications (if you apply through the website): your name, contact details, and any work-related information you choose to send us.
  
• Newsletter or updates (only if we offer this and you sign up): your name and email address.
  
• Technical information: IP address, browser type, device, pages visited and similar data collected automatically through cookies and server logs.

We do not knowingly collect special personal information (such as health, religious or biometric information) through this website. Please don’t send it to us.

How we use your information

We use personal information to:

• respond to your questions, orders, catering or wholesale enquiries;
• arrange supply, delivery or collection of our products;
• process and follow up on applications to work with us;
• send you updates about TAM, only if you have asked for them (you can unsubscribe at any time);
• keep the website secure, prevent spam and fix technical problems;
• understand how the website is used so we can improve it;
• comply with our legal, tax and food-safety obligations.

We process personal information only where the law allows it: with your consent, to carry out a request you have made or a contract with you, to comply with a legal obligation, or for our legitimate business interests where these don’t unfairly affect your rights.

Images and website content

All photographs, images, logos, graphics, menus, product descriptions and other content on this website belong to TAM or are used with permission, and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. The TAM name, logo and hexagon emblem are our brand assets.

You may not download, copy, screenshot, extract, scrape, reproduce, modify, distribute or otherwise use any images or other content from this website, including for commercial purposes, for AI or machine-learning training, or on other websites, social media, print or packaging, without our prior written permission. If you would like to use our content (for example for a media feature or a retail partnership), please contact us using the details above.

We may take steps to protect our images, including watermarking, removing embedded metadata such as location data, and taking action against unauthorised use.

Cookies

We use cookies to make the website work and, where applicable, to understand how it is used.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, though some parts of the website may not work properly without them.

Embedded content from other websites

Pages on this site may include embedded content (for example videos, maps, images or social media posts, such as Instagram or Google Maps). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the same way as if you had visited that website directly.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including if you have an account and are logged in to that website. We do not control this, so please read their privacy policies.

Payments

This website does not currently process payments. If you pay us in person (for example at a market stall), card payments are processed by our card-machine provider, and we do not see or store your full card details.

Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only where necessary, and only with:

• Service providers (“operators”) who help us run the website and business, such as our web hosting provider ([HOSTING PROVIDER]), email provider, analytics provider (if any), and accounting and bookkeeping software. They may only use your information to provide their service to us and must keep it secure.
  
• Delivery or logistics partners, if you order wholesale or bulk products that need to be delivered.
  
• Authorities, regulators or professional advisers (such as SARS, the City of Cape Town health authorities, our accountant or lawyer) where we are legally required to, or need to, to protect our rights.

How we protect your information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, damage, unauthorised access or disclosure. These include secure hosting, access controls, and limiting access to those who need it. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

If we become aware of a security breach that affects your personal information, we will notify the Information Regulator and, where required, you, as POPIA requires.

How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purpose it was collected, or as the law requires.

• Enquiries and correspondence are kept for 2 years after our last contact.
  
• Wholesale customers’ details, invoices and records are kept for at least five years, as required for tax and company-law purposes.
  
• Unsuccessful job or helper applications are kept for 6 months and then deleted.
  
• Newsletter subscribers are kept until they unsubscribe.

Your rights

Under POPIA, you have the right to:

• ask us whether we hold personal information about you, and request access to it or a copy of it;
• ask us to correct or update personal information that is inaccurate, outdated or incomplete;
• ask us to delete or destroy personal information we are no longer entitled to keep;
• object, on reasonable grounds, to the processing of your personal information;
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent (this doesn’t affect processing done before you withdrew it);
• object to direct marketing, and unsubscribe from marketing messages at any time;
• lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (see below).

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details at the top of this policy. We may need to verify your identity first. Deletion does not extend to information we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal or security purposes.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The “last updated” date at the top shows when it last changed. If we add features such as comments, accounts or online ordering, we will update this policy before they go live.