Small business owner Dithego Sedikela, 38, runs a female-owned wellness tea business called Tlou that started operating in November 2022.
The business is in Randjespark, Midrand. Tlou is Sepedi for elephant.
She said: “This strong, larger-than-life creature is a universal symbol of power, loyalty, humility, and wisdom. These are all qualities which represent what we stand for as a business. Personally, elephants invoke an intrinsic sense of pride and identity, as they represent both my paternal and maternal clan totems.”
The business focuses on wellness tea blends that are “good in a cup and good in the body”.
Tlou hand blends loose-leaf teas with herbs, spices and carefully selected adaptogens that are later presented in luxury pyramid teabags.
There are currently six blends in the Tlou tea range. The aim is to increase the range in the next 36 months to target the bigger markets. Sedikela aims to draw people from South Africa and beyond to her product.
She said: “The goal is to become a trusted premium tea brand and expand our reach to not only in South Africa but in the rest of Africa, and who knows, maybe globally.”
Sedikela graduated with a BCom at the University of Cape Town and international relations at Unisa. She worked in the finance department for six years before embarking on her entrepreneurial journey to start Tlou.
She said it was not the first time she was closely involved in business marketing tea. “I was a partner at another well-known tea brand.”
She shared that the business idea derived from her love for tea and added that Tlou was started because she wanted to support her own well-being and mental state of mind by doing something that she loved.
She said: “To that end, Tlou Tea is premised on hand-blending teas that aid mental and physical well-being.”
Sharing the business challenges with Sunday World, she talked about the growth of her brand in a post-Covid volatile economy, and that she optimised her supply chain without compromising the quality of the tea.
She elaborated on the impact of loadshedding on her productivity. “Our current power challenges also added another element and like many other businesses we have had to adapt to this new norm. A key aspect is how to maximise productivity when the productive hours are impacted by loadshedding.
“There is no doubt that Tlou Tea is going to be a success. The reaction from the six blends we currently have has been positive and inspiring and this tells us we are on the right track.”
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