The adage when one door closes, another is flung open rings true for three youngsters from Soweto and Alexandra who took a leap of faith and started their own business in 2019.
Lungelo Mgaga, 31, Thabo Twala, 27, and Patrick Thokkie, 33, say that they were frustrated and stressed when the companies they worked for retrenched them not long before Covid-19 became a pandemic.
The trio decided to establish a beverages company, LIB Foods in 2019. The company sells juice called Loxion Fruits.
With only R800 in the bank, these young entrepreneurs used the kitchen of Mgaga’s parents’ home in Dobsonville to start the business.
“We had a vision and agility to succeed through our quest to reach the top. This happened through the resilience and passion we had to build our brand. When we lost our jobs at the height of the pandemic, we were not sure how we were going to survive,
knowing the high level of unemployment in this country. However, we never backed down but with our firm belief that we can reach for the stars, we tried our best,” said Mgaga.
Soon after the business got off the ground, they started selling Loxion Fruits at taxi ranks at Bara, Pan in Alexandra, and Thembisa.
As they continued to push the limits they were given a bigger working space by the City of Joburg at a donated warehouse in the Orange Farm Skills Development Hub, sponsored by the department of social development. The National Youth Development Agency also came to the party and bought the newly established food company machinery and equipment.
“We built the Loxion Fruits brand from direct sales at taxi ranks and now we are on shelves of spaza shops in Gauteng while pushing our brand to be in major retailers in the country. We are growing big due to supply and demand. We want to branch out to the entire country and internationally as we get many consumers demanding our juice,” said Twala.
Thokkie, who is the eldest member of the trio, said they also got a sponsorship from the popular Gauteng commercial youth radio station, YFM, to communicate their brand message.
“We started on shaky ground, but we never gave up, and we are now seeing success in this project. We have employed five youngsters at our plant and warehouse as well as 10 sales agents in different parts of Gauteng in order to push Loxion Juice. It is never too late to start afresh after experiencing challenges,” said Thokkie.
Loxion Fruits packages its juice in five-liter and 500ml bottles.
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