Mpho Majeng, owner of Somelele Trading, has turned a multi-generational brewing hobby into a thriving business, with non-alcoholic hops and rooibos the main ingredients.
Majeng, who set up her brewery business in East London, said: “I used an ancient family recipe for the brew, which my great grandfather had perfected.”
The family home was in Middeldrift, (Xesi) which is 90km from East London. The recipe was passed down from father to son, and she is not sure of exactly how many generations had been brewers.
“I know my great grandfather was a brewer, and he passed down the art to my grandfather, his son, who apparently used to brew two 20 litre containers at a time. One was to sell and the other was fermented for his own consumption.
I would like to find out just how many of the family were involved over time. It would be really interesting to ascertain exactly how long it’s been running.”
What she does know, she said, is that she picked up the skill from her grandmother, who got it from her now deceased husband, and continues the art.
Majeng commercialised the recipe to remove the bitter taste of the hops and now has a second lemon infused flavour.
She has had to veer away from picking hops, which in her grandfather’s time grew wild.“Generations ago both hops and rooibos, my key ingredients, grew like weeds in the fields surrounding our family home, but not anymore.
"The days of free harvesting are over.”
Just as with all the other ingredients she has to buy the hops and rooibos.
Her drink, Hops, has been provisionally approved by a large national retailer but “I cannot reveal the name until the approval is finalised, which she said is in the pipeline and will be finalised soon.”
“Until then I have a niche sales outlet and I will continue to service it. It’s been hard work but I built up the demand gradually and I am now selling orders of 60 cases at a time.
She attended Cape Peninsula University’s retail management course and worked for some time in the retail sector, first with Shoprite, and then returned to East London and worked for Boxer.
“I left Boxer on good terms.
"My reason was to start manufacturing and launch my Hops brands. More good news for me is that the East London Industrial Development Zone has accepted me in one of its incubation programmes, which includes setting up my business in the zone, so Hops will soon have a new address.”
ELIDZ has various incubation programs for Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs).
The focus is to assist SMME businesses to grow and become more competitive within the manufacturing sector, likely through access to resources, expertise, and potentially funding.
It offers a variety of services, including laboratory facilities, training platforms, networking solutions, and incubator services.
ELIDZ’s goal of offering facilities to the likes of Hops is to increase the competitiveness, efficiency, and effectiveness of local industries.
ELIDZ also has what it terms a “Soft Landing Support” that covers business streamlining and support services to aid investors in completing investments and starting local operations.
Further to this is relocation planning, market research, start-up assistance, access to municipal services, regulatory compliance, and application support for incentive programs.
Hops, the drink, is available at various retail stores in the Eastern Cape, including East London.
Listen to Ted Keenan’s podcast with Mpho Majeng on DispatchLIVE.
Daily Dispatch
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