Kago Dichabe is filling the gap in the market by launching a yoghurt brand that features gluten-free starch and no preservatives in the ingredients list. According to the entrepreneur, this innovative product caters for health-conscious consumers who are looking for natural and allergen friendly options. Dichabe is selling the yoghurt under the Dairyland brand and comes in four different flavours, strawberry, blueberry and granadilla, plain and cinnamon. It is available in three sizes 500g, 250ml and 1kg. He explained that since inception four years ago, the business has made positive strides.
The idea for the business came to fruition after Dichabe was inspired by the growing presence of local products in the shop he was working at. “The business idea came while I was working at Choppies stores. As I was packing the shelves I realised the growing absence of the number of local brands in the store. “I started doing research shelf by shelf and when I got to the dairy section, there was only one local brand competing with international ones,” he tells BusinessMonitor. Dichabe explains that he then started conducting his own research on yoghurt production and was fortunate because his Bio-technology module at school once covered the process.
Some online modules were also helpful as he learnt the whole processing again. In 2020, Dichabe decided to leave his full time job, and he used some of his savings and money from his poultry business to start his company, CK Foods. The first production was made manually in the comfort of his home. For the whole year, he went door to door, visited malls selling his product and a year later it paid off as he got an opportunity to participate in Tokafala Business plan competition where he won P12, 500. During the same year, he got P95, 000 Youth Development Fund capital injection to grow his business. “The cash injection came in at the right time as I used it to buy machinery for the production of my business. I also enrolled and got the business management training at Tokafala, as this is crucial for running of the business,” he says. With a staff complement of five and the machinery he has, Dichabe says they can produce a maximum of 800 of the 500 grams per day.
Currently his sells his products through social media, and also has stalls at the Gaborone’s Main Mall, Princess Marina Hospital and Molepolole. Asked about market reception, he said: “People do appreciate my products and I am confident with the direction we are going. Unlike most of our competitors whose products have artificial preservatives, ours have no preservatives.” Dichabe is currently in talks with several local retailers who have shown interest in having his products. However, he said the process has been delayed by the National Food Technology Research Centre, (NAFTRC) certification, which he is expecting this month. Looking into the future, he plans to add more products under his brand as well as penetrate the local and international space.
