Like many entrepreneurs, Khauhelo Lefoka started his business after losing his job during the initial lockdown stages. And like many in his township, Lekoka took to stocking and reselling yoghurt. But he wanted to stand out and decided to make a dairy blend. Lefoka, whose product Moghurt Dairy is produced in Katlehong in Ekurhuleni, told Vutivi News that he lost his corporate IT job of seven years when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
He was forced to find ways to feed his family. “While I was job hunting, I started reselling yoghurt in the township and when I saw that we were all doing the same thing in the same area and stocking from the same person, I decided to do something to attract more clients,” he explained.
Lefoka said that while doing research, he saw there was a need to create a dairy blend as he found that yoghurt manufacturing machines were expensive and costly to maintain. “We then partnered with Dynamiko Food Ingredients, and they manufacture the ingredients that we use to produce the dairy blend,” he said. When the business launched in 2020, Lefoka said that penetrating the local market was difficult and it initially sold less than he envisioned.
“We found that local spaza shops would buy in small units and we wanted to sell in large quantities,” Lefoka said. “We were lucky to have found other means of distributing our products,” Lefoka told Vutivi News that they now distributed to Roots outlets in Katlehong, Dawn Park and Vosloorus, Pick n Pay outlets in Katlehong, and Dexter Butchery in Katlehong. “We also have resellers that stock the products and resell them to make some extra cash,” he said.
“We also have a distribution deal with the Somalian Spaza Shop Association in our township and they agreed to put our products in all of the spaza shops that are members of their forum.” The dairy blend comes in three flavours: pineapple, orange, and mango and peach. They are sold in 500ml and two-liter containers.
Lefoka said that the biggest achievement of his startup was the growth in sales. “When we started off. we used to sell 600 units a month,” he said. “Thanks to the various distribution deals with the outlets, we now sell 3000 units a week, which tells me that our company is moving in a forward direction and that there is light at the end of the tunnel of our trials and tribulations.”
