Packing a fruity and colourful punch with every taste, the story behind Sobae Frozen goes beyond a delectable journey that started three years ago on the streets of Joburg. Spearheaded by the vibrant duo, Mbongeni Masondo and Thula Ndema, Sobae’s sorbet tells an endearing story of love, courage and resilience – a recipe made in artisanal heaven.
Armed with a blender and a raging fire to take on the entrepreneurial world, Mbongeni and Thula decided to turn a light-bulb moment into a thriving and sustainable business. The pair created their small business as a solution to food waste, creating vegan sorbet from unused fruit found around the city.
“Walking around the city we started seeing how it was and we’d see food wasting around. We decided to go look for the source and where it was coming from. Besides people eating and throwing away food we saw that supermarkets and street vendors did the same thing, we decided to take the food and turn it into something and that’s how Sobae came about,” Mbongeni said.
Initially selling their produce on the streets of Maboneng, Braamfontien and the outskirts of the City it took some time for people to warm up to the concept and now the brand has grown and is a favourite around Joburg markets and has even had the honour to serve Megan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.
“People didn’t know about sorbet, we had to educate a lot of people and they were even scared to taste it. We try to make it for everyone – we want to be that healthy and alternative dessert for everyone,” said Thula.
Getting a taste of their products, one has a chance to discover Sobae’s novel flavour combinations using unusual, in-season ingredients with no dairy, additives, preservatives and very little sugar.
“Most of the time we’d see that people were making sorbet out of juice and not the actual fruit. Since we were trying to stop food waste we decided to use the actual fruit and once we used the whole fruit the taste became more intense, healthy and juicy – it’s as if you’re eating the whole fruit,” Mbongeni said.
Mbongeni and Thula’s passion for combating food waste, running a thriving business and making a difference does not only lie in Sobae but also in their relationship. The pair, also happens to be a couple and their story is as inspiring as their entrepreneurial journey.
“Our bond and starting the relationship was already balanced. We’re friends and we can make time for each other, we’re a team. When you think about it, the whole concept comes together. Love, nature, recycling and everything that we individually love,” Thula said.
The pair said starting out as friends made their transition into business seamless as they had already built a rapport and worked as a team at their previous jobs. However, as much as the story is sweet, Thula said there tends to be tough times in both life and business, but, the duo always finds a way to make it work.
“One point that we never forget is that we’re still in a relationship and that’s one thing we have to keep alive. That’s what needs to stay alive and inspire other people – even a person who wants to start a business with their partner,” Mbongeni said.
Sobae Frozen officially launched and open the doors to their new headquarters and store in Victoria Yards.
“With this space, we’re trying to tell the Sobae story – we want people to see how we make the sorbet and we want people to be a part of the process. We do want to get people involved,” Thula said.
-
-
-
-
