DREAM FLAVOURS DREAMING BIG
Dairy delights with a local twist
United by a single, dairybased dream, five local ladies joined forces to form Dream Flavours in 2009.
13 years later and the dream remains stronger than ever for business partners: Litah Malejane, Magret Kgosi, Chedza Nkhwa, Lilian Kheba and Kelebogile Majaye.
The company makes: juices, ice pops, madila and yoghurts, producing 5 000 units a week when working at full capacity.
It is the Dream Flavours yoghurts that have truly taken off, with their indigenous range - boasting mogorogorwane, mmilo, motoroko, morula and lerotse - proving particularly popular.
This is their incredible story, as told by Malejane…
Kindly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am the Managing Director and co-founder of White Angels PTY LTD trading as Dream Flavours. I am from Thamaga and I am 55 years old. I’m also into the marketing of the company products. I have been doing marketing for over 25 years to date. White Angels is owned by five Batswana women, who started from humble beginnings with no knowledge of manufacturing dairy products.
Tell us a bit more about these ‘humble beginnings’.
The company was established in September 2009 with the help of the Gender Affairs grant; later, we got a loan from the First National Bank Botswana to buy a van. We then got another loan from Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) to try and add to the funds and make packaging material - that was in 2010.
Before you established this business, what were you doing in terms of work?
I was self-employed supplying stationery and cleaning chemicals.
So, when did the first products hit the shelves?
We started supplying in January 2010.
What inspired you to start Dream Flavours?
The realisation that most of the dairy products in the shops are from outside the country. The idea was to build a brand that Batswana would identify as homegrown, and the world as an ‘African’ taste.
You use indigenous fruits for some of your products, why?
We wanted to differentiate our brand from the imports by crafting our yoghurt with the indigenous fruit of Botswana. We wanted a Motswana who eats our yoghurt to be inspired and realise that there is so much potential in our country, to make use of our Godgiven trees to better our lives.
How are Dream Flavours products performing in the retail space?
We have not yet positioned them on the retail market because we are waiting for our new packaging, which will be ready before the end of the year. But, while we wait, we supply the hospital
ity market. As of now, we supply: Grand Palm, Cresta Hotel, Grand Aria.
Where do you usually get your ingredients?
We get our fruit in the Kweneng area and beyond, mostly from vendors who sell to us.
How difficult or easy it is to get these fruit in bulk?
Yes, all the fruit are seasonal, even the exotic ones. But that is not an excuse to deny our customers their favourites, so we preserve them for future use by freezing them.
What challenges do Dream Flavours face?
Shortage of milk is the major challenge in Botswana. Also our machinery is not automated so it takes long to finish production.
Between exotic yoghurts and indigenous ones, which ones are more popular?
Indigenous, of course! They are doing wonders because these are products which are unique and not so common.
You exhibited at the Global Expo Botswana this year, was it the first time going there?
It was not. This year, the exposition was quite different, it had so many potential customers who showed interest in our products and it was more eye-opening since it provided networking opportunities.
Yoghurt production is quite a limited profession locally, how did you
acquire the necessary know-how?
Most of our knowledge is self-taught but National Food Technology Research Centre (NAFTRC) really helped us a lot with some training here and there and certification of the products.
Are there any plans to see Dream Flavour products being exported out of the country?
Yes, we have sensitised ourselves with the export protocols logistics so that when a need arises, we don’t waste time.
And where do you want to see Dream Flavours in the next five years?
We want all household refrigerators to be dominated by Dream Flavours products. Also, we want the brand to have a global reach. We appeal to Batswana to let us know about the indigenous fruit in their villages, we want to make ‘The Taste of Botswana’ with our wild fruit.