Four years ago, Janine Honiball started growing herbs as a hobby. Today her business, La Vie Herbs, employs 11 people and supplies more than 5.2 tonnes of herbs per year exclusively to Shoprite and Checkers.
Honiball, who lives just outside Kroonstad in the Free State, struggled to find healthier and natural alternative seasoning, so in 2018 she started growing her own plants on the farm where she lives with her husband.
Her love for herbs continued to grow and within two years, Honiball was supplying 14 types of herbs – including living herbs, salad onions, spinach and celery – to supermarkets.
La Vie Herbs’ employees – consisting of seven previously unemployed local women – received agricultural training and education, and are now so proficient that any newcomers are taught the tricks of the trade in-house.
“By supplying to the Shoprite Group my dream became a fully-fledged business, which has created much-needed employment for women in a community where jobs are scarce. It really is a privilege doing what I love while uplifting other women,” explains Honiball.
As drivers of growth and job creation, small businesses are crucial to the recovery of the South African economy and the group is capacitating and growing commercially-viable SMMEs through its Shoprite Next Capital business division.
“We want to enhance the participation of small suppliers in our business, particularly small female- owned businesses like La Vie Herbs, by giving them access to our consumer market,” says Maude Modise, general manager for enterprise and supplier development at Shoprite.
Importance of market access
Shoprite Next Capital is dedicated to capacitate and grow local, commercially viable SMMEs to further the group’s continued efforts to give small suppliers access to their consumer market. It focuses solely on small suppliers and enterprise supplier development
According to Honiball, her journey into the world of herbs started when her health demanded that she avoided all products for colouring, flavouring and preservatives. She soon realised that herbs were the answer as alternative seasoning.
“La Vie started as a hobby, but it soon expanded into a full-fledged business. The Free State’s dry climate is suitable for herb production. We farm in mini-tunnels with white shade netting. Our farm is also located next to the N1 highway, which facilitates transportation,” she says.
ALSO READ: Agripreneur 101: This accountant now runs a saucy side-hustle
Get Stories of Change: Inspirational stories from the people that feed Mzansi.
