Local entrepreneur’s piquanté peppers prowess shines at expo
These pickled peppers have a sweet taste but pack a mean punch
POLOKWANE – One of the entrepreneurs who stood out from the crowd at the recent Limpopo Economic Development Agency (Leda) expo, Tebogo Maepa, wowed locals with her piquanté peppers products.
Originally from Mamelodi in Pretoria, Tebogo attended school in Zebediela and moved to Polokwane. She studied library and information science in education at the University of Limpopo and began her career as a teacher in Pretoria.
“I later moved to Thabamoopo College to work as a librarian for three years after which I began my career at the Polokwane Public Library in 1998,” she said.
In 2009, Tebogo decided to resign in order to give her dream of being an entrepreneur a shot. In 2014, she and five other women started Deutronomeo Co-Op.
“We planted two hectares of piquanté peppers with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture and we were contracted with a company in Seshego. We were, however, disappointed with the remuneration we received for our products and we lost around R300 000 on this venture. The other partners opted to pursue their own ventures but I decided to carry on with the piquanté peppers,” she said.
For now, she is growing piquanté peppers and producing piquanté peppers products such as sauces, spreads and pickled peppers on a small scale with the assistance of Leda and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda).
“Because we can’t buy the machinery necessary to produce our products on a larger scale, we are hesitant to approach bigger markets because we might fail to meet the quota. This is one of the biggest setbacks for our business at the moment,” she explained.
Tebogo urged everyone to support local products and brands in order to grow the local economy and give entrepreneurs the chance to grow their businesses.
