From chance to choice: a women's rise to farming success

Many raisin producers assume that retiring without a son to take over the farm means the end of the family business. Alcois Blaauw, this year's winner of the Raisins SA Female Producer Award, proves that assumption to be wrong. Glenneis Kriel reports.

- Glenneis Kriel

Alcois Blaauw never really thought of farming as a career, so she studied public relations after school. But when her husband, Wicus Blaauw, ended his rugby career due to injuries, she had to leave her high-flying corporate job in Edinburgh, Scotland, and find work back home in South Africa.

When she phoned her father, Francois du Toit, with the news, he responded that he was looking for someone to help with the administration at Du Toit Landgoed, their family farm, on Kanoneiland in the Green Kalahari, and asked if she would be interested in the job.

That first year, 2015, was like a baptism of fire. “It was February, so we went from 1°C in Britain to over 40°C in a matter of days, and I was responsible for everything from paying wages and drawing up budgets to managing logistics, VAT, traceability and record-keeping. My father could not help much, as it was peak season and he was fully occupied in the vineyards,” Blaauw recalls.

Over time, she found her feet, and the farm invested in Xero accounting software, which automates much of the admin and budgeting. This made day-to-day operations far more manageable and allowed Blaauw to take a more active role in the farming side of the business, although the office remains her main responsibility.

FARMING AS A PASSION

What started as a job quickly became a passion she had never anticipated. “Farming was not a career I ever thought I would choose, but somehow it chose me - and it turned into a genuine passion for the land, the vines, and the rhythms of farm life,” says Blaauw.