18 November 2025
- Supports 82 small and medium-sized suppliers, with 400+ locally made products available in Shoprite and Checkers stores nationwide.
- Provides access to market, working capital, packaging, labelling, marketing and compliance support.
- Success stories include Maneli Pets, Gudgu Cordials, Antjie’s Handmade Naturals, Jowa’s, and Matlhasedi Body.
- As South Africa marks Global Entrepreneurship Week, these businesses show how market access drives growth.
From a kitchen in Stanford, Nicolene Gericke perfects a new Antjies soap fragrance, while friends Pieter du Plessis and Viljoen de Kock fine-tune the flavours for their Gudgu cordials in a factory in Cape Town.
In eMalahleni, Thato Poo maps out the next stage for her growing natural insect repellent business, Mathlasedi. Jowayne Van Wyk meanwhile, tinkers with the latest recipe for his Jowa’s spices and sauces business over a braai in Belville.
These stories capture the spirit of South Africa’s entrepreneurial landscape, showing what’s possible when small businesses receive meaningful support and access to the retail economy. As part of Shoprite Next Capital’s supplier network - which includes 82 small and medium-sized businesses offering over 400 products on Shoprite and Checkers shelves nationwide - these entrepreneurs are transforming their homegrown ideas into national success.
Launched in 2022, Next Capital is a division of the Shoprite Group that partners directly with small businesses, helping them secure shelf space and providing support with working capital, packaging and labelling, marketing, and compliance.
For Gudgu, this support assisted founders Viljoen de Kock and Pieter du Plessis to scale from producing for local markets to supplying over 100 Checkers stores across six provinces. Today, they employ 14 people and run a full-scale factory in Cape Town.
Antjie’s Handmade Naturals, a brand in Stanford, now supplies 34 Checkers stores with locally made bath and body products. "Ongoing engagement, technical support, and hands-on guidance from the Checkers team have been instrumental in helping us grow our footprint, explore new product lines, and create job opportunities for more than 65 women across the Western Cape,” says founder Nicolene Gericke.
In addition to business support, Next Capital has provided R45 million in supplier funding and R20 million in preferential loans to small enterprises, helping cover costs like working capital, farm acquisitions, and even solar panels.
For Johannesburg-based pet food manufacturer Maneli Pets, support from Shoprite Next Capital meant survival, according to Nhlanhla Dlamini, who founded the business in 2016.
Nhlanhla says the factory was hit hard by stage 5 and 6 loadshedding because its refrigeration and dehydration machines run 24- to 48-hour cycles — shutting down operations and putting 60 jobs at risk. He says it soon became clear that a long-term energy solution was essential. The company began installing solar panels in 2018 but struggled to secure funding to complete the project. “Banks are not open to those types of requests, particularly for SMMEs,” he says. With financial assistance from Next Capital, Maneli Pets was finally able to finish the installation.
The system now provides 200 kWh battery capacity and a 100 kVA inverter, powering production through stage 1 to 5 and partially through stage 6 loadshedding, keeping the business operational and jobs secure.
Since joining the Shoprite supplier network in 2021, Maneli Pets has grown from supplying five Checkers stores to more than 200 nationwide.
“Small businesses are vital to South Africa’s economy - they create jobs, foster innovation, and strengthen local communities. We invest in these entrepreneurs - the people creating employment and economic opportunity - by providing the resources, market access, and support they need to build lasting legacies.”
- Maude Modise, Enterprise and Government Relations Executive at the Shoprite Group