{"id":188082,"date":"2021-05-06T00:00:25","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T22:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=102171"},"modified":"2021-05-06T00:00:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T22:00:25","slug":"from-subsistence-farmer-to-wholesale-supplier-how-one-hazyview-farmer-turned-his-life-around-to-supply-shoprite-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/from-subsistence-farmer-to-wholesale-supplier-how-one-hazyview-farmer-turned-his-life-around-to-supply-shoprite-group\/","title":{"rendered":"From subsistence farmer to wholesale supplier \u2013 how one Hazyview farmer turned his life around to supply Shoprite Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

From subsistence farmer to wholesale supplier \u2013 how one Hazyview farmer turned his life around to supply the Shoprite Group<\/p>\n

Elias Pangane began farming mielies purely to feed his family \u2013 but he\u2019s managed to turn a humble backyard operation into a fully fledged business that now supplies Africa\u2019s largest retail group.<\/p>\n

Although always passionate about farming, Pangane initially followed a career in construction in order to earn a stable income.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile working in construction I farmed part-time to supplement our groceries. From time to time I would have excess produce, which I sold on the streets of Hazyview out the back of my bakkie,\u201d says Pangane.<\/p>\n

The income he generated from the sale of his mielies was not enough to survive off \u2013 but he persevered and learnt many valuable lessons. \u201cAt the time I knew nothing about pricing, so I made a loss and I had to throw away some of my produce as they had a short shelf life,\u201d Pangange explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring those days of struggling, it didn\u2019t dawn on me that my passion could end up being a lucrative business supplying for the Shoprite Group, Africa\u2019s biggest retailer.\u201d<\/p>\n

An opportunity to start farming full time presented itself when Pangane took over his retiring father\u2019s cattle business. He decided to clear some land to also plant vegetables, and later macadamia nuts.<\/p>\n

Everything changed in 2009, when an angel investor assisted Pangane and other small farmers in the area to install a drip irrigation system, and then further introduced him to the Shoprite Group, which he began supplying one year later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe past 12 years have been great, and my relationship with the Shoprite Group changed my business completely,\u201d says Pangane. \u201cWhen I started I only knew how to farm \u2013 I knew nothing about pricing and many other business-related concerns required to supply for a retail company. But the people at Shoprite held my hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The self-taught farmer says a key factor that helped him over the years has been advice received from Shoprite, who will occasionally inform him which crops to produce more of and when, based on customer demand.<\/p>\n

The relationship also impacts the local community. \u201cShoprite is giving us the ability to create employment for the people of Hazyview. When I started I had two seasonal employees who came during the harvest period \u2013 now I employ 34 people,\u201d Pangane says.<\/p>\n

Pangane today farms vegetables and macadamia nuts with five of his children \u2013 two of whom are now pursuing degrees in related fields at the University of the Free State.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy passion has turned into a legacy I can proudly leave for my children. Farmers never retire, but I am happy that when I am ready to rest, my children will confidently take over the reins. They will be also equipped with education, something I never had when I started,\u201d says Pangane.<\/p>\n

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Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From subsistence farmer to wholesale supplier \u2013 how one Hazyview farmer turned his life around to supply the Shoprite Group Elias Pangane began farming mielies purely to feed his family \u2013 but he\u2019s managed to turn a humble backyard operation into a fully fledged business that now supplies Africa\u2019s largest retail group. Although always passionate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9021],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-188082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-mypr","7":"tag-mypr","8":"entry","9":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}