Entrepreneur wowed by demand for her fruit juices
Funding from state agencies set up Ndabula’s food processing factory
Hundreds of people queued up at Thobeka Ndabula’s stall to get a taste of her home-made juice at the weekend.
Ndabula sold more than 1,000 bottles of her Zazi’s Juice on Saturday at the DStv Delicious Festival event in Johannesburg.
Ndabula, 48, from Dobsonville, Soweto, founded Zazi’s Juice in March 2020 and Saturday was the biggest highlight of her brand.
“I was invited by Proudly South African to come and sell. The support has been amazing. This was my first time selling at such an event.
“We were sold out on Saturday. I am extremely happy. They (customers) love Zazi’s Juice. They said they cannot wait for the juice to be available in stores. I am going to invest this money in the business,” said Ndabula.
Producing the juices with a team of six employees from her own factory in Modderfontein on the East Rand, Ndabula said the juice comes in seven flavours namely fruit medley, cranberry, orange, mixed berries, mango, apple and fruit cocktail.
She said a group of farmers in Limpopo provide her with ingredients to make the juices which come in plastic bottles and cartons of different sizes 300ml, 1.5-litre and 5-litre and 500ml cartons.
Ndabula said her journey as a businesswoman began in 2002 when she established her own media company called Zazi’s Productions.
Through this platform, she did freelance work as a photographer, documentary producer and publisher.
The mother of two said it was through her entrepreneurship work that she decided to venture into the food space.
“While I was using my company to promote entrepreneurship in the schools and in the township, I met a lady who was making dairy products. She encouraged me to go into agriculture. In 2020, I started trying out different juice mixtures in my sister’s kitchen in Tembisa.”
Ndabula said she could not operate in 2020 due to the Covid lockdown.
“It was tough. I was thinking my business was going to boom when I started. I waited for the [Covid] restrictions to be loosened before I could operate. In 2021, I started supplying my juices at churches, parties and weddings.”
Ndabula said the growth of her business was given a financial boost this year by the Gauteng department of agriculture and rural development, and agencies of the department of small business development.
“The department helped me with a graphic designer to promote my business. Sefa (Small Enterprise Finance Agency) gave me R350,000 that I used to buy equipment for my business. Seda (Small Enterprise Development Agency) provided me with banners and a gazebo. I thank them.”
She said she used the funds from Sefa to buy an industrial food dehydrator, blender, oven and mixers. Her factory also produces chocolates, biltong and dried fruit.
“I am enjoying my journey. What really inspired me to venture into this food business is that I am ambitious. If a stranger asks me what I do for a living I would say I am a community builder.”