Shoprite launches Homegrown initiative to boost local brands

written by Savanna Douglas February 28, 2023

Shoprite, South Africa’s largest retailer, is giving local, emerging businesses a much-needed opportunity to break into the retail market through its introduction of Homegrown.

Homegrown is the name of Shoprite’s new exclusive private-label product range that is 100% produced and sourced from local small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs).

This follows the 2022 launch of its business division, Shoprite Next Capital, dedicated to empowering and growing local, commercially viable SMMEs.

The new product range is believed to create a significant platform for these organisations to gain access to new customer markets, increase turnover, and provide additional jobs for local communities.

The product range includes South African favourites such as candy, tomato sauce, popcorn, chutney and biscuits, as reported by BusinessTech.

The new range also allows consumers to buy a more quality range at Shoprite stores without compromising their budget.

Here’s what we can look forward to with the initial range of Homegrown products launching in stores.

Wonder Snacks: A family-owned and operated business founded in 2017 that makes popcorn using a few small manual poppers. Today, it houses a fully automated popcorn plant. It has grown its staff by over one-third by being part of Homegrown. We can expect an array of flavoured popcorn like uShatini and Sticky Chicken.

Khayelitsha Cookies: A Cape Town baking business with 87 employees devoted to empowering women, mainly from Khayelitsha and poverty-stricken areas in the Western Cape. Its range includes several types of cookies, such as hand-baked strawberry-flavoured cookies with white chocolate chips, lemon-flavoured cookies and double chocolate munchies.

Exotic Taste: Started in 2006 by single mother Amina Abrahams in her home kitchen, the company makes lemon, chilli, mango and vegetable atchars. Since joining the Homegrown family, Exotic Taste has expanded to a 200-metre-square factory equipped with more than 30 people.

Le Bon Bon: A snack food and confectionery manufacturer that started in Cape Town in 2012. It has 200 employees across several divisions and focuses on home-tailored recipes and traditional manufacturing techniques. We can look forward to a range of flavoured caramelised popcorn, including butter toffee, milk tart and peanut brittle.

Gordon Sweets: A family-run confectionary with 30 years of experience. The company employs approximately 50 staff in Epping, Cape Town and still uses the old-school method of single-batch production in copper pots to produce lip-smacking candy. Their sugar candy selection will be available in fizzy tropical fruit, fizzy cherry and apple, and condensed-milk quenchers.

All products on the new label are MSG-, tartrazine-, and Azo dye-free and made with sustainable palm oil.

Shoprite said the range will continue to grow as new products and suppliers are added.

Written by Tauhira Ajam for Cape {town} Etc.

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Feature Image:@gordonssweetssa / Instagram