Submitted by: Mandla Makabhane Sihlangu (shared from Mokopanepapparazinetwork)
After Ramasela Matsemela dropped out of pharmacy school, she decided to learn how to bake bread to feed her family.
Her bread, which is sold in GaMadiba in Mokopane, Limpopo, has become so popular that she has been able to create employment for ten people in the space of a year.
The 33-year old said she starts baking at 1 am each day to ensure that her customers receive a fresh delivery of bread in the morning. Her bakery, Ramariz Bakery, is operated from her home.
“I knew nothing about baking. I was a pharmacy student, but I dropped out because I was not doing well,” she said. She eventually got a job at a small bakery, but they only allowed her to package the bread.
“I soon realised that I was wasting my time, so I decided to use up my savings to hire a professional to teach me how to bake,” said Matsemela.
The businesswoman said she baked 20 loves in her first batch, which sold out immediately. “I took a wheelbarrow and I didn’t even finish one street. My bread was sold out very quickly,” she said. “People were telling me that my bread tastes delicious and reminds them of bread from the olden days.”
Matsemela added that she had soon battled to cope on her own and first hired two extra hands to help her deliver the bread around the village. Now ten people help her to bake and deliver the bread.
“It really feels good to have been able to create employment for other people in my village,”
At the moment she is using two bicycles, a wheelbarrow and trolleys to deliver the bread. She added that, while she is currently focussing on baking bread, she intends to expand her offerings to other baked goods.
Her white bread sells for R10 while the brown loaves sell for R9 each.
Edited by: Lindsay Gray
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