Local lads brewing up a storm

The distillery is 100 percent black owned and is based in Centurion.

Dumo Ndlovu and Lungelo Fatyela said they had started the journey towards establishing a business that would source local and cheap alcohol brands and distribute them to consumers targeting the low end of the alcohol market in neighbouring countries in 2014.

“In November that same year, distribution was about to take off when we decided to, instead, focus on the local township market and offer these budget brands to taverns, shebeens and bottle stores in the townships,” said Ndlovu.

He said at that time, finding suppliers proved to be a difficult task. Following a failed business relationship with a supplier in early 2015, the pair seriously considered going into alcohol manufacturing themselves. “We started researching the industry and meeting with other distillers and distilling instructors. Once we had established that it was a viable option. We drafted a business case and a business plan,” said Ndlovu.

He said meeting with potential investors was the easy part. “The greatest difficulty in becoming a true distiller, other than mastering the art of distilling is satisfying the regulatory requirements, financial capital and having a handle on the operations of running a distillery as a business,” he said.

Although the pair has ambitious plans for the distillery, they have had a modest start. Their first product is Au Gold Vodka. “[We want our vodka] to be Johannesburg city’s drink of choice,” said Ndlovu.

He said they have a five-year plan which included making their brand available on international shelves.

“[In the short term] we want to make more flavours for our current vodka by the end of 2016,” said Ndlovu.

Details: www.augold.co.za

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