Proud South African beverage business
Rising from humble beginnings to success as an entrepreneur
HE is the man behind the success of one of South Africa’s most beloved beverages and he is still going strong. Sharief Parker has been at the helm of Jive for 27 years and he has built the brand with strong values.
“We have family values that are at the centre of our brand. We treat our employers as one big happy family,” Parker said.
Parker was born in 1958. His father was an immigrant grocer who owned a store in Kensington. He was exposed to learning about business at a very young age. In 1983 he joined Carnation Foods as a sale representative selling coffee creamer. But it didn’t fascinate him and he got in touch with the world of gassy cool drinks and flavourful beverages, and said he ‘wanted in’.
But there was a problem that he realised at the time. Coca Cola was one of the biggest cool drink brands in the world “and taking them on would have been unrealistic”, he said.
In 1993 Jive was launched in a small factory store in Athlone close to Parker’s home. In 2002 Quality Beverages moved to a brand new factory in Epping Industria, near Goodwood.
Since its inception, Jive has won numerous awards. It also managed to secure the exclusive bottling rights for Pepsi Cola, 7UP and Miranda for the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa.
The Company was also voted Pick n Pay supplier of the year in the Western Cape in 1996. Since then the success of the brand has poured in. Parker is known among his employers as a fierce businessman, but humble and fair.
“I think the reason why this brand is so successful is because we have many loyal consumers who are loyal to the brand and loyal to us. We also take our branding very seriously and we are consistent in the work that we do and are trustworthy,” he said.
He added that he is extremely grateful to all those loyal consumers who believed in Jive for all these years.
His office in Epping is filled with Jive awards and a picture of him with Archbishop Desmond Tutu hangs behind his desk.
This year the brand is part of the 2018 Cape Town Big Walk. Parker said that it only made sense for them to partner with the event because they share the same core values.
“They are a very family oriented brand and we share the same values with them, and family means a lot to us as a company,” he said.
Parker said they were going to launch some exciting new flavours which would be hitting the shelves soon.