A small KwaZulu-Natal company's perseverance has paid off, and its locally-produced range of dhal products are now listed in 25 Shoprite and Checkers stores.

“We approached the Group several times over the years, but our brand was too young and unknown,” says Pregasen Francis, co-founder of Saikav Foods.

The company continued to work on its products and has expanded its range to include pre-soaked, pre-cooked and easy to prepare split pea dhal, gram dhal, moong dhal and a range of lentil, chickpea and bean products.

Saikav’s products are now listed in 25 of the Group’s stores across KwaZulu-Natal. It is supplying three lines to the Group, and hopes to be able to extend it.

“Shoprite and Checkers have been phenomenal in terms of giving us opportunity. We started delivering this year and we are growing quite well, especially in some of the big stores in super regional malls.”

- Pregasen Francis, co-founder of Saikav Food

The flagship split pea dhal product originates from the UK, and was initially imported, but local production started about six years ago.

“Partnerships with retailers like Shoprite have given us the opportunity to invest in infrastructure and in people, and to take the step to go national,” says Francis.

“While we are a small company, we have grown to a staff complement of 10 people, a head office and warehouse facilities.”

“We are passionate about quality and the uniqueness of our products, and we test over and over to get the product to the way we want it to be. We also take customer service to an extreme.”