regional business achievers awards 2014 emerging entrepreneur submission LIZE FOUCHE PERSONAL NOTE8 To be nominated in this category for emerging entrepreneur, something which I am so passionate about, is an honour. Building a business and developing product ranges has been a journey which I could never have achieved without the help and support of my wonderful family and team. I would like thank the BWA for allowing me to be a part of this exciting opportunity to profile my business and my vision for our wonderful region. Lize fouche PROLOGUE8 Lize is no stranger to starting up her own business, having helped start up her family’s luxury Summerstrand guest house, Manor 38, which thrice has received the accolade from travel giant Tripadvisor as best boutique hotel in the city. It was at Manor 38 where Lize first started experimenting with baking her delicious homemade muesli for guests, which later led to the establishment of Number 1 Foods. After establishing Manor 38 and before returning to Port Elizabeth to start up Number 1 Foods, Lize moved with her partner, Stephan, to Cape Town. One day – prompted by a dream – Lize came up with the idea for creating a peaceful eco cemetery where loved ones could be laid to rest in a secure and tranquil environment. Here, friends and family could say a heartfelt goodbye and revisit a conservation area where the memories SECTION ONE 8 personal info company info Name: Lize Fouche Company: Number 1 Food Position: CEO Company Registration No: 2013/062050/07 Company: Number 1 Food Website: chunkymuesli.com / number1foods.com Company Registration No: 1 Kg Facebook: facebook.com/ChunkyMuesli ID Number: 0000000 000000 00 Address: 62 Kragga Kamma Sunridge Park Port Elizabeth South AFrica, 6008 Telephone: 0861-MUESLI Mobile: 083 450 1569 Email: [email protected] PO Box 28482 Sunridge Park Port Elizabeth South AFrica, 6008 NUMBER 1 FOODS puts health, lifestyle and nutrition FIRST. WE ARE BUILDING relationships with families across the world to make NUMBER 1 their first choice in food brands. Q1: What is the nature and history of your business? BACKGROUND8 In 2013, I returned to Port Elizabeth from Cape Town with my partner, Stephan, and our two young children. Our family needed a second source of revenue, so I decided to market my home-made muesli which, with my culinary arts and food product development background, had been a hit with family and friends. Using our limited funds, we purchased a steel roasting drum to be fitted into our kitchen oven, and I worked on roasting the perfect muesli. Even though this initial attempt at roasting was unsuccessful, I remained undeterred and found a chicory roasting plant in Alexandria which would help me roast the ideal muesli mixture. So tasty was the result that we sold 2 tons of the Number 1 Chunky Muesli at its launch at the 2013 Kirkwood Wildsfees, sparking the start of a great enterprise. Q2: WHAT PARTICULAR ACHIEVEMENTS ARE ATTRIBUTABLE TO YOU AND YOUR COMPANY OVER THE PAST YEAR? ACHIEVEMENTS 8 Since successfully launching Chunky Muesli at the 2013 Kirkwood Wildsfees (in the process creating 34 permanent jobs at the Alexandria roasting plant, and a further 7 managerial posts), I have worked with fellow Port Elizabeth entrepreneur, Jaco Serfontein, for a new nutritious cereal range called NutriStart, which includes a product called I Am Pregnant. Number 1 Foods is also supplying oats-filled apples to Coega-based company Dynamic Commodities for export. There is now an immense demand for the product. The range is available in many mainstream grocery stores, while NutriStart has been picked up exclusively by Pick n Pay (the NutriStart health bars will be sold in Spar, DisChem and Clicks). Coega is building a custom-made factory for Number 1 Foods, which will create a further 150 jobs and have a 600 ton per month production capacity when it opens at the end of the year. The company is also launching a US export range Q3: What obstacles did you need to overcome to start and build your business? OBSTACLES8 As a mother entering the business world, I had to really persevere when it came to pitching my product to various businesses. It also took time to convince my family that it was the right thing to do. With a six-month-old and two-year-old, I had to juggle motherhood and business, sometimes taking my children with me to business meetings. I also had to quickly adapt to the tough fast moving consumer goods market and learn how to become and expert negotiator, in order to get the best deals for a product which I am very passionate about. The people who didn’t take me seriously to start with have learnt that I mean business. WILD FEES absa kkNK home makers expo Q4: What marketing strategies do you use to promote and grow your business? MARKETING 8 The nature of my business meant we needed to get people to taste the product, because once they tasted it, they were committed to it. We started with tasting sessions at schools and made deals with the tuck shops where we donated a portion of our sales to the school for fundraising. We also developed brochures with small taster packs of muesli attached. For marketing nationally, I head-hunted a national sales manager with experience and great contacts. She helped us get meetings with the likes of Pick n Pay, Spar, Bidvest catering, Macro, Fruit and Veg City, DisChem and Checkers. We also market at major festivals like the KKNK in Oudtshoorn, the Kirkwood Wildsfees, the Home Makers Expo, and the Potchefstroom Aardklop Festival. Q5: What corporate or personal social responsibility programmes are you involved in? SOCIAL8 We donate 10% of our profits to the Mountain Crest Community Centre in Thornhill for abused women and people with addictions. We also employ adults with Down Syndrome to help with low-stress jobs at our Alexandria factory. Our new factory will have a dedicated area for special needs employees who will assist with lowstress jobs such as packaging the product. On top of this, we also put 15% of our profits into a Worker’s Trust for shop floor employees, as an incentive for them. ?? ? ? ? Think OUTSIDE the BOX Q6: What gives this business the edge over others of this nature? 8 The past year has been a massive learning curve for me. Within nine months I became a “business mother” of four unique “children”– chunky Muesli, NutriStart, Hemel & Hawer and Nutritech. My background in product development at Woolworths South Africa has instilled within me a need to produce food with integrity, and which is also made up of natural ingredients. Our focus on community and employee upliftment is also a move which I believe sets us apart from businesses which are solely preoccupied with profits. THE EDGE The buy-in from our employees also gives them the benefit of being more involved with the product while at the same time being empowered. As part of our expansion plans, I want to revive the oats-growing industry in the Eastern Cape, which collapsed many years ago. This will not only create jobs in agriculture, but also help us move closer to building an oats mill alongside our Coega factory (6 hectares of land has been set aside for this), which could produce a minimum of 5,000 tons of oats monthly, helping diversify the agricultural industry in our region and uplifting the community through job creation. NUMBER 1 stands first for health, lifestyle Building relationshi across the world to make Number 1 their e and nutrition. ip with familieS r first choice in food brands CONCLUSION Since a I always had the of an entrepreneur. Baking Organizing or selling or bringing At the age off 11 I did my first together. (I live my talents) flowers. My I beautiful, inspiring things I making something out of nothing I working towards my dreams At 23 i wrote a secret dream for myself. I want to be PE Im not Miss or Miss and selling it to friends and teachers. where so shocked but it looked amazing. women. . Im Miss compassion. Nothing brings me more then doors for others. YES, Number 1 will be The , the oatmill, the many jobs, the break of monopoly of oats growing, the (NEW) markets. All of this is emerging and it gives me great Happiness. Q3: What obstacles did you need to overcome to start and build your business? OBSTACLES8 As a mother entering the business world, I had to really persevere when it came to pitching my product to various businesses. It also took time to convince my family that it was the right thing to do. With a six-month-old and two-year-old, I had to juggle motherhood and business, sometimes taking my children with me to business meetings. I also had to quickly adapt to the tough fast moving consumer goods market and learn how to become and expert negotiator, in order to get the best deals for a product which I am very passionate about. The people who didn’t take me seriously to start with have learnt that I mean business.
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