Mokoena Fresh Produce Supply

My name is Thandiwe Mokoena, and I am the founder of Mokoena Fresh Produce Supply, a small fresh-produce distribution business based in Soweto, Johannesburg. We supply vegetables and selected fruits to households, spaza shops, restaurants, caterers and informal food vendors in communities around us. I started this business because I saw how difficult it could be for smaller food businesses to obtain good-quality produce at reasonable prices without travelling to large wholesale markets or purchasing quantities they could not afford to use quickly.

I grew up in a family where food was never wasted and where my mother regularly bought vegetables in larger quantities for our household. That experience gave me an early appreciation for how much families depend on reliable access to affordable food. Before starting my own business, I spent several years working in purchasing and stock administration for a food distribution company. I learned how suppliers set prices, how transport affects margins and how quickly poor stock management can turn a profitable order into a loss. I eventually decided to use those skills to build something of my own.

Mokoena Fresh Produce Supply started in 2021 with a small amount of personal savings and one used delivery vehicle. My first purchases were potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, spinach and bananas. I stored the produce in a modest rented space and personally handled most deliveries. My first customers were two local restaurants and several street-food vendors who were willing to give me an opportunity. The business was small, but those early customers taught me an important lesson: reliability mattered just as much as price. If a restaurant needed twenty kilograms of onions on a particular morning, they needed the order to arrive when promised.

Over time, the customer base grew through referrals. Today, we supply several restaurants, takeaway businesses, spaza shops, caterers, food vendors and households that purchase larger quantities. Our regular products include potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, spinach, carrots, peppers, butternut, bananas, apples and other seasonal produce. Some customers order two or three times a week, while others place larger orders before weekends, holidays and community events. We have also developed relationships with a few smaller retailers that prefer dealing with a local supplier because they can order quantities suited to their available storage space.

Our operations begin early in the morning. I monitor prices from farmers, produce agents and wholesale markets before deciding what to purchase. When deliveries arrive, the produce is inspected, sorted and separated according to quality and customer requirements. Orders are packed into crates or suitable bags and prepared for collection or delivery. Two employees currently help with sorting, packing, loading and general stock handling. I remain responsible for purchasing, supplier negotiations, customer relationships and financial decisions. Because fresh produce is perishable, we record daily stock movement and try to sell older stock before newer deliveries are opened.

The business has faced several difficult periods. The most serious challenge has been the amount of working capital required to keep enough stock available. Produce prices can change quickly because of weather conditions, seasonal supply, fuel costs and transportation expenses. Larger buyers can sometimes negotiate lower prices because they purchase in much greater quantities. We cannot always match those volumes. When cash is limited, we may have to purchase smaller quantities at higher prices, which reduces our margin. There are also occasions when a customer needs more produce than we have available, resulting in a lost sale that could have been avoided with stronger stock levels.

Waste is another challenge. Fresh vegetables cannot be treated like products that can remain on a shelf for months. If tomatoes, spinach or fruit are held too long, their quality falls and the business has to absorb the loss. We have improved our purchasing decisions by studying sales patterns and ordering according to actual demand, but limited capital sometimes forces us to choose between buying enough stock to secure a better price and protecting the little cash available for other expenses.

Financially, the business has been funded through my personal savings and money reinvested from sales. I have deliberately avoided relying heavily on expensive short-term borrowing because irregular repayment pressure could put the business at risk during a slow trading period. We are generating revenue and have an established customer base, but the amount of stock we can purchase is still limited by available cash. The opportunity in front of us is not to start from nothing, but to strengthen an operation that already has customers and a proven demand for its products.

We are requesting R1,480,000 to strengthen our working capital, increase inventory and improve the way we store and distribute fresh produce. The funding will be used carefully, with the largest portion going directly toward products that already have regular demand.

• R720,000 for fresh produce inventory: We will purchase larger quantities of potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, spinach, carrots, peppers, butternut, bananas and other high-demand products. Larger purchases should improve our supplier pricing and reduce frequent emergency restocking.

• R220,000 for cold storage and produce handling: We will improve our refrigeration and storage arrangements so that suitable products remain fresh for longer and avoidable spoilage is reduced.

• R180,000 for packaging and reusable crates: This will provide food-safe bags, cartons, crates and other materials needed to prepare customer orders efficiently and transport produce safely.

• R140,000 for delivery and vehicle costs: The funds will cover fuel, tyres, servicing and necessary maintenance of our delivery vehicle, allowing us to serve more customers without interrupting regular operations.

• R120,000 for seasonal purchasing: This reserve will allow us to take advantage of periods when selected products are available at favourable wholesale prices, particularly when seasonal supply is strong.

• R100,000 for operating working capital: This will provide a modest reserve for unexpected supplier price increases, delayed customer payments, transport costs and other short-term business needs.

During the first two weeks after receiving the funding, I will review our sales records and prepare a detailed purchasing schedule based on actual customer demand. We will compare quotations from existing suppliers and identify additional reliable suppliers where necessary. Storage improvements will begin at the same time, with the objective of creating a cleaner system for receiving, sorting and rotating stock.

During the first three months, we will focus on increasing the volume supplied to existing customers while approaching additional restaurants, caterers, spaza shops and food vendors in nearby communities. We plan to introduce simple weekly price lists and scheduled delivery days for customers who place recurring orders. This should make purchasing more predictable and allow us to plan our inventory before demand occurs rather than reacting after products have already sold out.

By the sixth month, our target is to increase monthly sales by approximately 30 percent while reducing avoidable produce losses through better storage and purchasing discipline. We also expect stronger buying power to improve margins on frequently purchased products. The objective is not simply to sell more, but to build a more stable operation where increased sales translate into sustainable business earnings.

The expansion will also create jobs. We currently employ two people, and if the business performs according to our projections, I plan to create three additional positions during the first year. These roles will support produce sorting, packing, loading, delivery preparation and customer orders. As the business grows, I want to provide young people in the community with practical experience in stock handling, logistics and small-business operations.

My long-term vision is to turn Mokoena Fresh Produce Supply into a dependable regional supplier for independent retailers and small food businesses across Johannesburg. I would like to build direct relationships with more local farmers, increase the amount of produce purchased directly from growers and eventually operate a larger distribution facility. I also want to introduce a simple ordering system through which regular customers can submit their weekly requirements in advance. Better forecasting would help us purchase more intelligently, reduce waste and give customers greater confidence that their usual products will be available.

I have built this business gradually because I wanted to understand every part of the operation before taking on larger commitments. We know which products move quickly, which customers order regularly and where our current limitations are. The funding we are requesting will therefore be used to respond to existing demand rather than finance an untested business idea.

Thank you for taking the time to read about Mokoena Fresh Produce Supply and consider supporting this campaign. Every contribution will help us purchase more efficiently, keep more fresh produce available, reduce unnecessary losses, serve more small businesses and create employment. I am grateful to everyone who supports the campaign, shares it with another person or simply believes that a small business can grow when given the right opportunity. My hope is that this support will help us move from a small local supplier to a stronger distribution business that creates value for customers, employees, farmers and the communities we serve.