Michelle Britz

What does your company do?

Michelle se Kombuis offers a variety of healthy frozen meals and other products that meet the needs of a wide target market, including the growing demand for gluten free options. With a focus on continuous growth and strengthening through a combination of marketing strategies and a commitment to quality and customer service. We strive to be a leader in the healthy food industry and have a positive impact on our community and South African society as a whole. With a focus on continuous innovation and excellence, Michelle se Kombuis is poised to increase its impact and succeed in the challenging, but exciting, industry of food supply. Michelle has an incredible love and passion for cooking. It is precisely from this love that the business got its origins in a remote place on the farm in Ficksburg when she had to support her family financially during the drought in 2019.

What is your biggest success?

That I could believe in myself enough to be able to start a successful business on the farm from my little kitchen and to grow with my employees and teach them about entrepreneurship, business and cooking. To meet the need of so many households to find comfortable and healthy solution for their eating habits. The trend towards takeaway meals is increasing, but we differentiate ourselves by not only offering a quick option, but also a healthy alternative. There is an increasing demand for gluten free options due to the growing awareness of gluten intolerance and the negative impact of certain diets. Therefore, one of our main focuses and successes is to keep expanding the gluten free range which already contains 10 meal options. But the biggest success was to never give up in the past 5 years when things got rough!!

What has been your biggest hurdle?

Unexpected food price increases is a big hurdle. To get by with my old equipment and to plan my day's work around this limitation. Although the initial growth was damaged by the impact of the drought on the family's finances in 2019, our business' client base continued to grow, but could not invest the income in the business due to the financial need of the family. In 2020-2023 we used the income and expanded the kitchen, so production and sales increased, but again because of the drought in 2024 I must put aside the planning to buy new equipment for easier and better production to contribute financially and support the family.