Artisan Italian was founded in South Africa in 2019. Coming from a heritage-rich Italian family (which is now spread across the globe in the Italy, UK, France, USA, South Africa, Namibia to name a few countries) we have always believed in a solid “all natural” diet, an ethos which underpins the majority of our food preparation and cooking.
We have generally refrained from buying bottled food products / sauces due to what we found to be the synthetic nature of these and of course the preservatives, which, we believe, are largely unnatural for the human system. We found it quite intriguing actually that there were so many products on the market and yet so few had managed to capture the true essence of “good old-fashioned home cooking”. Being Italian, we, of course, love to share our passion for food and, in particular, we have, for many years, been bottling our own “Artisan style, all natural” Pasta sauces and gifting these to friends.
Over time, we became very confident in our ability to produce and bottle an all-natural product with a shelf life which lasts multiple years – and this spawned the idea for us to have a bit of fun and put a label on the bottle so that our friends would remember what they have in their pantry.
After some thought on this, we decided, “hey, if we’re going to the effort of designing a label, let's go all-in, design a really cool label and go commercial”.
A few months later, the first exquisitely labelled bottles of “SUGO – Artisan Italian Pasta Sauce” rolled off the production line.
SUGO was launched in Jacksons Real Food Market in early April 2020, yip, at the start of the Covid lockdown, and quite accidentally this proved to be a major positive strategic move since you may recall that bottled / canned products were flying off the shelves as consumers anticipated major food shortages.
Since then, we have been quite strategic or selective in where we place SUGO as in this initial phase of the business we thought it's best for SUGO to be associated with retail brands that have a strong slant towards healthy, organic and all natural food products – SUGO now being available in many retailers in Johannesburg.
We have been quite overwhelmed with the positive feedback that we have received on SUGO and as we now say, “The proof of concept is successful, let's grow this thing”.
As such, we are actively marketing to retailers and distributors to carry the SUGO brand.
Watch this space !!
We are small, we are agile, our values are firmly intact, and we have a relentless and uncompromising perspective on quality and excellence.
We are Italian, we are passionate, we are loud, we speak with our hands – we share an enviable enjoyment of family, food, friends, vino and life.
Furthermore, we naturally and seamlessly fuse all of this into our work ethic, the result of which will always deliver great products.
Our flagship brand at the moment, SUGO – Artisan Italian Pasta Sauce is an absolute bestseller. Sugo is currently produced in 3 delicious flavours:
All sauces are made with all-natural ingredients and contain zero preservatives, zero artificial colourants, zero artificial flavour and zero added sugar.
The bottle size is also 490g (net), generally larger than most other similar products, ensuring sufficient portion sizing as well as comparatively better value for the paying customer.
Whilst SUGO is labelled as a “Pasta Sauce”, the feedback indicates consumers are using it in many ways, and we hence also market it as a “Topping for any dish”.
As mentioned before, SUGO is an all-natural product, and we do not make use of any preservatives or any artificial ingredients. Without giving too many secrets away, through our meticulous production process we are managing to achieve a shelf life which extends into years, maintaining incredible product quality.
The kudos for this really belongs to my late father, who was instrumental not only in developing our wonderful recipes, but also in perfecting our manufacturing process.
Our philosophy is to maintain the authenticity of SUGO being artisanal and all-natural – and hence our production process ensures we can achieve this in an all-natural product which has a combination of incredible shelf life and commercially viability.
We believe our ethos and our product place us quite favourably in the market. SUGO is an all-natural product, which, we believe, is perfectly in line with a society which is fast becoming aware of a more natural and healthy eating lifestyle.
We are also uncompromising on quality, and each bottle of SUGO produced goes through a really rigorous lifecycle of quality checks. We recognise how incredibly hard we need to work to build a successful brand, and this can so easily be eroded through small glitches in product quality.
Of course, let's not forget the passion that goes into every single bottle. SUGO is our opportunity to share this passion with our customers.
Our aim is quite literally to re-calibrate consumer expectations !!
SUGO is no doubt a premium product, and we have been meticulous in sourcing specific ingredients, which results in the incredible quality of the SUGO which finds its way onto the table of our customers.
As such, our target market is a consumer who values and associates themselves with an explicit combination of exceptional quality, great taste and good health.
As I mentioned before, the feedback to date has been extremely positive and quite flattering, actually. Mission accomplished, I guess.
We are in our infancy currently and whilst we believe we have a product that can compete on the global stage, we have a way to go before we are ready for that. However, the export market is obviously attractive from South Africa and the current thinking (albeit very early days) is to target specific niche geographies which are in line with the SUGO brand profile.
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We are currently only in South Africa as it's early days for the SUGO brand, and we are actively looking for retailers to carry the SUGO brand. But opportunity often knocks unexpectedly, so who knows where SUGO will be in the months / years to come.
We are currently testing some really exciting recipes which we believe augment the current trio of flavours really well.
Contact details:
Contact person: Aldo Sguazzin (CEO)
Email Address: aldo@theartisanitalian.com
Contact Number: +27 (0)82 888 3292
Website: https://www.theartisanitalian.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theartisanitalian
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartisanitalian/
Cecil Vinegar Works has been manufacturing naturally fermented vinegar since 1936.
All our vinegars are produced from natural ingredients using the latest submerged fermentation technology. Our range covers a wide spectrum of naturally fermented vinegar products which ranges from retail packs of 200ml, 375ml, 500ml, 750ml and 2 litres, to bulk loads of 1,000L to 30,000L for industrial customers. Additionally, we supply catering and home industry sectors in larger 5L and 25L drums.
Our vinegars are available in all supermarkets across South Africa under the Safari and Retail brands and available in PET and glass packaging formats.
With over 8 decades of heritage, knowledge & experience, Cecil Vinegar Works produces a full range of vinegar and vinegar related products and is still one of the few manufacturers of Apple cider vinegar in South Africa.
We supply an extensive range of products, but some of our unique products include:
All our vinegars are produced from natural ingredients using the latest submerged fermentation technology. As a rule, we do not produce any imitation vinegar – we believe in bringing consistent high quality natural products to market.
We cater to a broad range of consumers, with our extensive range of products fulfilling the needs across the full spectrum, from the bottom end of the market all the way to the ultra-premium sector. Owing to our stance and processing methodology – our products deliver consistent quality, allowing Cecil Vinegar to be the go-to for retailers and end consumers alike.
We distribute branded and private label products to every strategic global markets plus all SADC countries.
You can find our products in New Zealand, UK, Mauritius, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, and USA.
We are extending the Safari brand range into adjacent complementary premium categories within the premium space following our successful launch in 2021 with the range of Balsamic and Organic wine & Apple vinegars.
Contact person: Wynand Louw – GM
Email Address: wynand@naturalvinegar.co.za
Contact Number: +27 (0)21 845 4001
Website: https://www.cecilvinegar.co.za and https://www.safarivinegar.co.za
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/safarivinegar/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/safarivinegar
Wayne recalls his earliest peri peri soaked memories – buying portions of slap chips (soft French fries) after school at the Portuguese-owned café, in Nelspruit’s town centre. He still remembers the distinct flavour and aroma of the chilli sauce mixed with the amazing smells of salt and vinegar chips, the owner drenched the chips in; a hot, greasy peri peri sauce filling your nose with the smell of warm spices as you walk home.
Many years later, and stranded by the COVID lockdown, Wayne tried to replicate this fond childhood memory by experimenting with his interpretation of the chilli sauce. After many months of development, he finally managed to cook up a batch of peri peri sauce that captured that specific nostalgic memory, filled with a deliciously intoxicating blend of paprika, garlic, ginger, black pepper and chilli - this was so exciting!
Hard-pressed by the lockdown bans enforced due to COVID restrictions, Wayne put his heart and soul into marketing his peri peri products, starting close with friends and family. Soon, he realized that like the slow burn of a good chilli sauce, the fire was spreading, and his products were exceptionally well received, people loved it! I guess you could say, the rest is history...
The Vasco Da Gama Peri Peri brand pays homage to the flavours and aromas of collective Portuguese cuisine, and nods in the direction of the 14th century East African trade route, when herbs and spice became a coveted trade commodity.
Today we have formed a company to be able to supply you with the very same recipe and to ensure the same traditions are carried in the generations to come...
Well, there is one thing that is relevant to all aspects of life, what you put in is what you get out. We focus on very high-quality raw products that match our documented specifications and procedures. From there, we follow a strict protocol of food safety methodologies to ensure every small hand-crafted batch is delivered with satisfaction.
We are a very small team, that is integrated with various skills and knowledge. We love to work together in the production facility. Small batch, handcrafted Peri Peri sauce. You can never make it alone and have to choose your team very carefully, teamwork is one of the most important aspects of quality products.
As far as we know, we are also the only company globally that manufactures a plain Peri Peri sauce, this is a Peri Peri fragrant sauce with no chillies, you get the same flavours, and the same consistency but no burn. It took us a long time to get the product to perfection and have seen more sales as we advertise the product. Actually, Children love this Plain Peri Peri sauce!
Soon to launch will be our new fermented Jalapeno sauce! This is going to be another winner in the South African market.
We keep it simple, small batch and handcrafted. For example, we only manufacture 200 bottles per batch and to dive deeper into that, every chilly is selected by hand, and inspected individually. One requires a lot of focus to be persistent on quality.
We have received another shipment from China this week with new equipment that is going to level up our game in the market and look from an efficiency point of view much better, yet keeping our quality control on the same standard.
Develop an incredible product, use feedback to deliver and balance out where you missed it, then put your goals up, see them every day, and believe the best is yet to come.
There are many days when one can easily be discouraged, these are only minor in the timeline compared to the big goals. Remain focused and keep your faith.
We have expanded our consumer circle utilizing introduction with the plain Peri Peri, as there are only so many people who love hot sauce. We offer a Plain, Mild, Hot and soon Jelepeno fermented sauce. This allows more consumers to buy into our range.
The hot sauce market in South Africa is still small and there is enough room for more companies to start up.
Absolutely, this is one of the goals, global expansion. We have plans to move into the global market but first, we want to fully saturate the South African market, then the African continent and then move there step by step. Competing globally is a long, slow process, however, we are definitely going there.
As of this moment, only in South Africa, if there is anyone in Namibia to stock our products, please reach out to be the first!
We would love to be in touch with retailers across South Africa to take our product onboard. We have also seen great success with Deli's and Butcheries which are currently stocking our products.
So currently we have only one type of spice, sold in a shaker. This is a very well-developed South African spice, super fragrant with notes of sweet honey and a slight taste of Worcester sauce that is complimented by various spices to add the profile of the trade route ingredients.
We have plans to expand to a wide spice range very soon. This all takes time and market research to deliver and superior quality product to the market, something that will stand out.
Contact person: Wayne van Zyl
Email Address: office@vascodagamaperiperi.com
Contact Number: +27 (0)63 754 0421
Website: https://vascodagamaperiperi.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vascodagamaperiperi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vasco.da.gama.peri.peri/
Marie Sharp’s Africa entered the Condiment and Sauce Awards and performed exceptionally well. We asked Lauren Weaver, a businesswoman with 28 years experience, a few questions to find out about her success.
During a family holiday to Belize in 2016, we came across Marie Sharp’s products and recognised a winning flavour in the hot sauce category. Having visited the factory, I brought quite a few bottles back to South Africa for family and friends to try. The favourable feedback was the deciding factor to import Marie Sharp’s to South Africa. I contacted the factory and negotiated the distribution contract for Africa with Marie Sharp’s in 2017. Starting with one pallet of sauce, I sold at markets and fairs once again to garner the public’s opinion. The response to the quality and taste was very favourable. Taking a leap of faith, I ordered my first 20-foot container filled with 60,000 bottles of sauce. Today we are selling in many Spar stores and Family Pick n Pays throughout South Africa and Namibia. Our goal is to increase our footprint in the rest of Africa. We want to be on shelves in many more retail stores making Marie Sharp’s stunning sauces available to many more people in Africa.
What are some of the unique features of your company?
Marie Sharp’s Africa is a woman-owned business following in the footsteps of Mrs. Marie Sharps herself. We are based in Cape Town and distribute nationally with warehousing in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Namibia. Our products are competing in a very established and competitive market, something no other large-scale hot sauce producer has done in Africa.
The Green Nopal Cactus Habanero Pepper Sauce is unique in that it contains the cactus plant, prominently grown in Central America. The Nopal is well known for its treatment of diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, and hangovers. It's also touted for its antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties.
The Marie Smoked Habanero is made from smoked peppers using four different types of fruitwoods: Craboo wood, Grapefruit wood, Guava wood, and Orangewood. The smoking gives the sauce its intensely smoky flavour.
The Red Hornet is an exciting new cultivar, especially developed and grown by Marie Sharp’s. It is a blend of the Trinidad Scorpion and the Red Habanero. This new sauce is by far the hottest in our range and is not for the faint-hearted. Like all Marie Sharp’s Sauces, it still carries immense flavour together with the fiery hot heat.
Marie Sharp’s manufactures products from farm-fresh fruits, vegetables, and spices. All are organically grown on Marie sharp’s farms in Belize. The entire manufacturing process occurs under one roof, with the peppers coming in via a shoot in the back door and the pallets of sauces getting packed into containers out the front door. They use enormous vats to store and cook delicious sauces, and the distinct aroma of the habanero permeates the entire factory. Marie uses carrots as the base for all her sauces and this provides an excellent balance for the heat of the habaneros, and it creates a natural sweetness to carry the heat. No preservatives, oils, or artificial ingredients are used in any of the sauces. Only the sweet habanero has added sugar, the rest are calorie-free and 100% natural. Marie supports female employment in Belize and her factory is made up of 90% female employees. She is an avid campaigner for ending gender-based violence and her Pineapple Pure Love sauce was made to support this cause. The label on the bottle is an expression of Pure Love between a man and a woman with the words: “Real man do not hit women”, phrased in a true Caribbean accent.
Many years of previous business experience and having a great team working by my side. It is an advantage that I love marketing and selling, as a new product and brand need a lot of work to make in-roads into today's challenging retail markets. We have taken the Social Media aspect of marketing seriously and are building up a good following. We have a young and dynamic creative team who love designing posts to keep the public engaged with our brand. However, nothing beats the face-to-face sale introducing a buyer to a new product, offering a tasting, and explaining the benefits to the customer and their bottom line.
Currently, we are selling nationally in South Africa as well as Namibia. The feedback is strongly positive, with consumers loving the flavour and natural ingredients. Customers are becoming more concerned with what they are consuming, and some competitor sauces have too many additives. The introduction of the Red Hornet is going to satisfy the customers who thought our Beware was not hot enough. I would love to see their responses when they try the Red Hornet.
Marie Sharp’s is available in over 31 territories worldwide. We are part of a family with Marie Sharp’s (country name) and all take pride in having a share of something special. It’s such fun liking each other's social posts and sharing when we can. I am proud to say that Africa posts are often shared.
Japan, Hawaii, Africa, Canada, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Costa Rica, Lebanon, USA, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Germany, United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Kuwait, Australia & Israel.
Marie Sharp’s will continue to be the Queen of Habanero, and as such new and exciting recipes will be forthcoming. We will be adding more flavours to the range in Africa, as well as some jams and squashes.
Contact person: Lauren Weaver
Email address: lauren@mariesharpsafrica.com
Contact number: 082-781-1497
Website address: https://www.mariesharpsafrica.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mariesharpsafrica/
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/mariesharpsafrica/?hl=en
Dr Trouble from Zimbabwe entered the Condiment and Sauce Awards and walked away with two awards. We asked the farmer and managing director of Dr Trouble, Robert Fletcher, a few questions about his success. He farms in Northern Zimbabwe, in the foothills of the Zambezi Escarpment.
My great-grandfather was a Scottish surveyor who charted the first maps of Zimbabwe between 1896 and 1905. He would spend months alone in the bush, with his horse and theodolite, surviving off the land with meagre provisions.
He kept a diary of his travels and experiences. 25-years ago, my late father and I were reading the diaries. In the back of one diary, we found a recipe for a lemon and chilli sauce. We decided for fun to make some and continued to do so for 15 years, each year using the lemons and chilli from our garden on the farm.
After my father passed, and with much encouragement from friends who tried the sauce, I decided to produce 100 bottles and sell them in the city at Christmas. A month after, I received a phone call from Los Angeles from an American who happened to taste the sauce while visiting Zimbabwe and wanted to import. We realised that we perhaps had something unique, and we began to invest in the idea.
The unique thing about our company is, perhaps, that we are so isolated and off the grid. We have built a state-of-the-art EU standard commercial kitchen in the middle of the bush. No neighbours, no pollution and noise. We are the most isolated EU standard facility in the world.
Our flagship recipe, Oak Smoked, and the hotter Lemon Chilli are unique products. It is the only pure lemon juice, zero vinegar sauces on the market. It takes 100 days to make a bottle as we sun-cure our infusion in glass flagons outdoors. It is an artisanal process, with a seasonal vintage depending on the climate and rainfall that year. We will only ever make a maximum of 250 000 bottles a year of these two flavours. If we want to increase production, we will lose the unique 125-year-old process.
Our first new product is our BBQ Royale. I took a classic Kansas City style BBQ sauce and added the spices most used in biltong. Biltong spices give an African take on the famous American BBQ. There are two versions, one is mild, and one is very hot, utilising different chillies for the recipes.
Our recipe is 125 years old, and it’s taken 15 years to grow the capacity without changing the age-old methods. Keeping true to the original recipe and keeping consistency in quality is daily and a never-ending art. Quality ingredients make us different. We harvest our lemons from the surrounding communal lands, where every village has a few lemon trees, which gives us a unique organic juice. We grow the chillies ourselves, right next to where we make our sauce. We test our spices rigorously. Every single chilli is inspected by hand and selected for quality. We’ve chosen to cap our production at 250 000 bottles a year. We’re not trying to be Nandos, and we’re quite happy with that.
Flavour, consistency, and attention to detail - is the key to our success.
We’ve had great feedback. Our first export market was the UK. Our first container of stock arrived, and within three months, we were the Number 1 bestseller on Amazon UK in our category. We’ve remained in the top 50 ever since. The fact that we are not trying to be the hottest sauce in the world is why we appeal to such a wide demographic. My philosophy is that a sauce should complement the food and not destroy the palate.
We have made our niche, our product is so different from all others and our flavour is unique. We are a luxury product, and our price reflects that. We now export 55 percent of our production.
Our products are in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Holland, France, Sweden, Denmark, Singapore, South Africa, the UAE, and the USA.
We have plans at the moment for a perinaise (Troublenaise) as well as BBQ rubs.
Contact person: Robert Fletcher
Email address: troublesauce@gmail.com
Contact number: +263772245792
Website address: https://drtroublesauce.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/troublesauce/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtroublesauce
We asked Danitsa Badenhorst, Republic Sales Representitive, a few questions to find out more about their success.
Tell us when your company was founded and some of its history?
Republic Swellendam is a Family Restaurant in Swellendam, in the Western Cape of South Africa, and we opened in April 2019. Republic of Swellendam is our company and we produce Award-winning Craft Gin (Rebel Classic Dry Gin) and also Republic Chilli Oil (Mild). The Republic Chilli Oil we started producing during the first lock down in June 2020.
This restaurant is open for one and all, for young and old, short and tall, for the truly diverse people that make South Africa great. We proudly announce that the Republic of Swellendam, is everyone's place and a place for everyone.
What do you think are some of the most special products you have?
The Republic of Swellendam gin offers a very tasteful, smooth and soft feel. A perfect gin base for your own rebellious concoctions.
But, without doubt, Republic Chilli Oil is a very unique product. The Republic Chilli Oil (mild) is a very pure, made with only 100% natural ingredients: Malawi Birds eye chilli, high food grade canola seed oil and salt. It is the perfect product to add some spice to your life. It is a great oil to drizzle over fresh salads and wood fired pizzas. Drizzle some over your flame grilled steak for a with some spice.
Love your curries? This is the perfect chilli oil to add to your curries for a nice tasteful spice. The Republic Chilli Oil range is growing, and soon we will be launching our Republic Smoked Chilli Oil and Republic Hot Chilli Oil. Republic Chilli Oil is a tasteful oil to drizzle over meals. Perfect for any dish.
Please tell us what is unique about your manufacturing process, and your manufacturing philosophy.
We are very strict with our quality control and with keeping the product quality consistent from batch to batch.
We are very hands on during production to ensure the best possible quality for our clients.
What do you think is your distinct advantage or reason for your success?
Our absolute obsessive need for quality.
What is the consumer demographic of your products, and what feedback are you getting?
Any person that enjoys slightly mild chilli will love this product.
How do you see your company or product on the world stage?
Republic Chilli can scale up production to meet consumer demand across the world, and compares with the best in the world in terms of quality.
In what countries can your product be found?
Currently, we are in South Africa, mainly in the Western Cape, but growing. We can courier our product to anywhere in South Africa.
In what countries can your product be found?
For now, only in Turkey, our products can be found in grocery stores, supermarket chains, many third-wave cafe chains, online markets, and five-star hotels. There is already a demand for our products from other countries as well. Therefore, it is also in our plans.
What innovations do you have in the pipeline for the future?
We are always experimenting with new products and production techniques to find and develop natural and functional products with greater taste.
Contact Person: Danitsa Badenhorst
Email Address: Sales@republicofswellendam.co.za
Contact Number: +27 (0)61 887 7643
Website Address: https://www.republicofswellendam.co.za/chilli
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RepublicChilliOil
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/republic_of_swellendam/?hl=en