Sibongile Nkala, the owner of Eco-Agro Enterprise, wants to address malnutrition, food and protein insecurities, and provide easy access to various mushroom species in the country and beyond.
The desire to ensure that South Africans are healthy prompted Nkala to produce mushroom-based baby food, patties, spreads, sauces and yoghurt with the help of the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA).
“Malnutrition is a pressing issue, and most of our value-added products seek to address this issue directly. Milk lacks essential elements such as iron and zinc, which are critical for the human body. All our value-added products contain mushroom extracts with high levels of these essential elements including protein,” she said.
Nkala, 37, added that her business was interested in ensuring that babies receive the required nutrients.
“We developed baby food, particularly so that babies have a strong immune system at a very young age, leading to lower chances of regular sickness.”
Armed with a diploma in food processing, Nkala and her team have developed about seven mushroom-based products.
“Including the baby food, we have also developed drinking yoghurts, biscuits, cheese spread, candy, salted butter and ice cream.”
Eco-Agro Enterprise , based in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, has had its fair share of entrepreneurial challenges, including product development and access to funding. “Research and development require high production input, so a high financial injection was required.”
The company had to develop numerous samples and receive training to ensure that the final product would be well received by customers.
“The TIA has played a huge role in the development of all these products. TIA funded the development and refinement of our technology, MushMag 5 000, which we use to produce our mushrooms.”
At least three young women are employed at the fledgling business, with plans to employ more as the business grows, and plans of setting up a factory.
Beyond the love and impact of my work, my vision is to see these products not only on retailers’ shelves in South Africa but beyond.” – Vuk’uzenzele
