Sweet potato is a favourite in Mzansi households – from fries to puddings and now drinking yoghurt. Yep, that is correct. Innovator Eddie Kgarose is taking the bright orange root vegetable up a notch with his Kgarose-drinking yoghurt.
In Kgarose’s previous life, he was in politics and a candidate for becoming a ward councillor. He went door-to-door telling people how he would make a difference in their lives. However, life had a different plan for him.
“At the end of the day, I realised this too shall pass. I used to attend all the business seminars and even today, guys are saying that there are enough funds in the agro-processing space and that they need to assist young people to tap into it,” he says.
In 2016, this opportunity came at a perfect time for Kgarose who grew up in rural areas where sweet potatoes are a staple food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“One evening, they prepared these potatoes at home for supper. They were very nice and sweet and that’s where the idea came from,” he says.
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Agro-processing journey starts
During his exploration phase, Kgarose was not sure what to add to the mixture, but adding and creating a perfect blend was his aim. “I simply mixed everything and added some sugar and milk and it tasted very nice,” he says.
Once he settled for the ingredients, Kgarose took the mixture to a lab in Limpopo for the product to be developed further. “Even though it failed several times, we kept working on it until we got a perfect blend.”
During his short-lived political career, he saved R25 000. He started up his business with his savings and as time progressed, he won a competition at SAB with R12 000 in prize money and invested that money too.
“I used my savings to start everything. Even when I was running out of money, I ran to my parents to help out,” he says.
The drinking yoghurt is currently available in two flavours, strawberry and peach. It is only being sold in Limpopo, but plans are in motion to expand.
His dream is to expand to the rest of the country and reach the export markets but, of course, that takes time. “The main challenge for now is capacity because we are producing around 2 000 units a week. We have a lot of demand on our side,” he says.
Kgarose’s five tips for aspiring agripreneurs:
- Start with what you have.
- Whatever you produce, take it to the labs for further development.
- Find the right information for your business, understand what you are doing.
- Understand the sector so that you can plan ahead.
- Brand yourself and your business proudly.
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