SA Farmer Kepas Melodi Details How He Got To Supply Shoprite With Fresh Green Beans
SA Farmer Kepas Melodi Details How He Got To Supply Shoprite With Fresh Green Beans. In an interview with Business Insider, South African farmer Kepas Melodi detailed how he got to supply the Shoprite Group with fresh green beans. Melodi ventured into the farming industry and he started by farming Spinach and after farming it for years, he eventually ventured into farming Green Beans.
He told Business Insider that, “Spinach went very well. I still plant it, but it doesn’t sell well enough. The amount of supply changes as seasons change, so with green beans you can plan how much you want to harvest in a year, and prices don’t fluctuate that much. There’s a huge gap in the beans market, that’s why I went there.”
Since his business was growing, Melodi began to attract a lot of international investors who were keen to farm with him as the agricultural industry was booming. This eventually led to them partnering with him and connecting him to Shoprite distributors. “They wanted to do farming with me and found that the vegetables were thriving. They gave me all I needed for two hectares of farming. I worked on the two hectares of land. When they came back they saw potential in the farm. They along with government officials told me that they had found a distributor for me which was Freshmark Distribution Centre for Shoprite, and they will buy my produce,” Melodi told Business Insider.
Melodi went from being a small town farmer to supplying one of the biggest retail groups in the country. Melodi made sure that he surrounded himself with individuals that were going to help him elevate his business, he also did not waste the opportunities he was given, this shows as he not only supplies Shoprite with Green Beans but he also supplies vegetables such as Butternut, Green Chilies and Tomatoes.
