Matjiesfontein Water
What does your company do?
My company bottles mineral water from a Karoo water source. My plant is based on a family owned farm. We do mostly private label waters and we distribute them nationally into convenience stores.
What is your biggest success?
Being a semi-desert region in South Africa - water is rare and superb quality water from this arid region is nothing short of a miracle. The discovery was made by my father and it was a real struggle to get it off the ground. I had to learn and very quickly about retail space and the fmcg industry, the technical aspects of machinery as well as the differences in water that we take for granted. I managed to secure Engen as a customer and we launched their private water label into quickshop stores in 2020. Although Engen and I have since parted ways, we have now grown into BP Wildbean Cafe, Sasol Delight, Shell Select stores and more. We have become the private label water experts in the four courts market. Still Matjiesfontein Water is a little known brand and my biggest success is to be recognized by the industry giants.
What has been your biggest hurdle?
My biggest hurdle was my lack of experience in the first few years. Not having a technical background, I had to learn to support my staff, when we had breakdowns, it was a nightmare to resolve until I found suppliers who would support me as I grew. In addition, being a woman in business was not always and still is not always respected by my peers. I had to learn to stand my ground and negotiate my terms and sometimes this was during meetings with people sitting all over the world.
