Rural-urban partnership makes healthy drinks widely available

Thu Feb 21 03:52:00 UTC 2019

 

Qualified attorney Jenny Maharaj and her business partners are capitalising on the health benefits of the Moringa tree, famous for being the most nutrient rich plant in the world.

Jenny Maharaj
Jenny Maharaj showcases part of her range of products, including specialised teas, iced teas and energy drinks.

Their business, trading under the Superinga and Jai Ringa brands, produces specialised teas, iced teas and energy drinks. The Moringa tree, indigenous to India, is the key ingredient in all their products. It contains up to 200 times the antioxidants found in green tea and just about every important vitamin and mineral needed to support the body’s healthy functioning.

Locally it is grown by a rural community along the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

We provided the seeds, farming tools and built a simple drying facility all of which was sustained organically through our company.

- Jenny Maharaj

This aspect of Maharaj’s enterprise provides her with the most satisfaction:

The fact that I can engage directly and holistically with rural communities and build something meaningful pleases me greatly.

Maharaj approached the Shoprite Group’s KwaZulu-Natal division in 2017 for the retailer to stock their products.

The buyer immediately recognised the value of our products and so began our process of gaining access to a greater market. My engagement with the Shoprite Group has been most encouraging and I have not looked back since.
Jenny Maharaj with some of her Moringa-products.
Jenny Maharaj with some of her Moringa-products.

With their products now available nationally in Shoprite and Checkers stores, the business has been able to employ a full-time logistics manager.

Maharaj’s advice to upcoming entrepreneurs is to make sure their business is sustainably financed from the get-go. She specifically urges female entrepreneurs to work hard because that is the only way that genuine opportunities, such as her partnership with the Shoprite Group, will present themselves.

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