REBUILDING IKWEZI BAKERY!

The Ikwezi bakery is one of the youth-run SMME’s in Hammarsdale. It is a thriving Pty (Ltd) owned by three outstanding young female entrepreneurs who continue to give back to their community by distributing freshly baked bread to 30 Early Childhood Development centers every month.

This is made possible through the ongoing support of Anchor Yeast, a partner who funds the provision of bread to unregistered ECD Centres that cannot afford bread but also sponsors some of the much-needed ingredients for these weekly orders. Unfortunately, these operations came to a grinding halt during the violent riots in KZN in July 2021.

As part of the bakery’s revitalization, the first step was to relocate to a more convenient and safer location at the eThekwini Use-It Site in Hammarsdale. In order to rebuild and improve the bakery, a “bakery rebuild campaign” was launched.

Two of our long-standing project partners AECI and PEP Stores responded to our call for support with generous funding to enable the move to a safer site, replacing equipment as well as provision of ingredients. Additionally, RCL FOODS’ technical baking team provided refresher training to help the ladies get back on track.

Despite numerous challenges, these young entrepreneurs have continued to move forward, diversifying their product lines and securing new markets daily! Our gratitude goes out to all our partners who rallied to rebuild the bakery.