From a small kitchen to an on-farm food factory

Starting in her farm kitchen 16 years ago, processed-food producer Elana Bruwer has built a brand that is retailed in 75 outlets, mainly in the Western Cape. She spoke to Glenneis Kriel.

- Jaco and Elana Bruwer

Elana Bruwer's passion for food production began with her study of home economics at university and continued as she pursued a career at Ashton Canning in the Western Cape. Then in 2005, the company was bought by Tiger Brands and merged with Langeberg Foods, and Bruwer's employment contract was changed from two-thirds of a day to a full-day job. Being the mother of two small boys at that stage, Bruwer was unwilling to make this change and resigned in order to spend more time with her family (husband Jaco and sons Roelou and Muller) on their farm, Drie Eike, near Robertson.

But being a stay-at-home mother was not enough for her. "I had this itch to do something more, but what? It was a time of rediscovering who I was and what I wanted to achieve with my life," she says.

Determined to stay busy, she produced fudge for church and school bazaars, and in due course, trifles for Robertson's Christmas fair and various food items for sale at the local farmers' market. All these were made in her small farm kitchen. These activities rapidly gained momentum, and in 2006 she took the plunge and opened up a full-blown food-processing business, which she called Elana's.

Bruwer's product range grew with time and today includes chocolate trifles, pizza bases and toppings, reductions, cordials, jams, marmalades, preserves and slaphakskeentjies (traditional onion salad).

The products are currently sold in about 75 outlets, including roadside stalls, farm delis and shops, primarily in the Western Cape. Most have been sold through word of mouth, but Bruwer has recently begun exploring ways to market her produce via social media and other means.

The Bruwers also have an on-farm shop, which was being expanded during Farmer's Weekly's visit.

GROWING THE BUSINESS'S TURNOVER