The winners include Rishav Juglall, owner of Rocky Brands and Marketing; Brett Horwitz owner of Goodleaf Company; IIse Ruthford, managing director of Compagniesdrift; Iqbal Aziz owner of Aztec Farm Produce and Njabulo Sithole, owner of Bakers Creationz. Together these emerging businesses employ 149 people.

The suppliers were selected based on their incredible performance over the last year, their commitment and ability to create jobs and their sales growth in the past year.

#BoostYourBiz Summit

Pick n Pay supports 2,178 local SMMEs and spent R4.3bn with them during the last financial year.

The Small Supplier of the Year Awards winners were announced at the annual Pick n Pay & Boxer #BoostYourBiz Summit hosted during Global Entrepreneurship Month.

Speaking at the event in Cape Town, attended by over 100 small business owners, Mishinga Seyuba Kombo, head of enterprise and supplier development at Pick n Pay, said all small businesses had shown incredible passion and dedication to growing their businesses in a tough economy, and had really embraced the support offered through the programme.

“We have had to relook at how we support and empower small suppliers to ensure we continue to consider their concerns and challenges in the current economic setting. We continue to provide them with mentorship and business development support to ensure they have the tools to excel in retail. With the support from our commercial and product teams, together we develop strategies and programmes to increase productivity and delivery to our customers,” said Seyuba Kombo.

The 2022 Pick n Pay Small Supplier of the Year award winners were recognised across five departments:

Fresh produce winner: Iqbal Aziz, Aztec Farm Produce (KwaZulu-Natal)

Iqbal Aziz started with two staff members and now employs eight people. He started his business 30 years ago and has been supplying Pick n Pay with Asian vegetables for 26 of those years.

“Aztec is the biggest contributor in our Indian Vegetable Category and supplies us with 19 products which are extremely popular in Durban. He supplies produce to stores through our distribution centre, but we recently worked very closely with him on a project to deliver produce directly to stores.

“With his help, we have completely changed the experience we offer customers in this category. The project launched in early November 2022, and it is going so well that he has nearly doubled the products’ sales this month. We have also expanded the project from the initial three pilot stores to 10 stores,” explained Seyuba Kombo summarising feedback from the buying team.

Bakery winner: Njabulo Sithole, Bakers Creationz (KwaZulu-Natal)

Njabulo Sithole, owner and founder of Bakers Creationz, started baking part-time from his kitchen at home to create delicious baked foods for family and friends in 2014. It was so successful that he moved to a larger facility later that year. He has grown his team from 13 members to now employing 40 people at this business in Maphephethe in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

He started supplying six products (a range of snowballs) just under 18 months ago, and his sales have grown by over 400% in the last year. He currently stocks his products in 179 stores across Gauteng and KZN after first launching in 57 stores in Durban.

“Passion, patience and persistence are the ingredients of Bakers Creationz’s success. His business started off by baking quality products for his family and friends, and this turned into supplying Pick n Pay with quality baked goods in two regions. He continues to grow as he aims to sell his products nationally.

“Bakers Creationz positively impacts their local community by creating job opportunities within the Maphephethe area. This has contributed to their success and ensured that they grow as a business and also as a community,” said Seyuba Kombo.

Edible – Beverages winner: Brett Horwitz, Goodleaf Company (Western Cape)

Goodleaf is a premium CBD brand devoted to providing customers with quality products from carefully sourced manufacturers. Horwitz started the South African business nearly four years ago and has been trading with Pick n Pay for two years. The company now employs 32 people, up from the three when the business was established, and sales continue to grow in Pick n Pay, with a reported nearly 60% growth last year.

Three Goodleaf CBD drinks products are currently stocked in over 180 Pick n Pay stores. “Goodleaf was selected as the Beverage SME winner this year as they remain at the cutting edge of innovation in beverages, and their business brings a new level of excitement and energy to the category in our stores,” said Seyuba Kombo.

Courtesy of Bizcommunity – read full article here.