Mpelegeng (Lelo) Audrey Magoro

What does your company do?

Lelo’s Tasty Foods is a proudly South African food brand that crafts high-quality, locally inspired products such as award-winning Atchar, artisanal jams, infused olive oils, and traditional Marula nuts. We celebrate African flavors with modern flair, offering wholesome, handmade products through retail outlets, markets, and hospitality partnerships — including a kiosk at the V&A Waterfront.

What is your biggest success?

Our biggest success has been winning national recognition in the 2024 Food & Home Magazine Awards — earning a Gold for our Strawberry Jam and a Silver for our Mango Atchar. This validated our commitment to quality and authentic African flavor. Another major milestone was securing a permanent kiosk at the V&A Waterfront, one of South Africa’s top tourist destinations. It gave us direct access to both local and international customers and elevated our brand visibility. Beyond sales, our success lies in representing small food producers with big dreams, showing that proudly South African products can compete on premium platforms. These milestones have strengthened our brand credibility and opened doors to future partnerships with retailers, hospitality, and export channels.

What has been your biggest hurdle?

Our biggest hurdle has been navigating the challenges of scaling up with limited resources while maintaining the artisanal quality of our products. As a small, self-funded business, access to consistent funding, equipment, and packaging at competitive prices has been difficult. This has affected our ability to meet growing demand and expand into larger retail or export channels. Additionally, building brand awareness in a saturated market dominated by larger, well-resourced food companies requires time, creativity, and resilience. Despite these challenges, we’ve remained committed to our vision — using every setback as a learning opportunity. Through persistence, strategic collaborations, and community support, we’ve managed to grow step by step, with every small win moving us closer to our goals.