Turn up that Jam

Young Food-preneur Gontse Selaocoe is taking toast to new heights with his range of locally-made jam

24-year-old Gontse from Orange Farm firmly believes that his jam has the potential to become a staple in every kitchen. With four distinct flavours – tomato, yellow melon, pear and peach – and an infectious entrepreneurial spirit, we’re pretty sure Gontse is absolutely right, and that his business will continue growing from strength to strength!

All Day Jam was founded a few years ago with just R1000, the recipes from his grandmother and the farming knowledge from his grandfather. Inspiration first hit when, hungry, he stopped by his gran for something to eat and was struck by how delicious her jam was. When he asked her why she’d never thought to sell it, she challenged him to do it himself!

Not only was he inspired to start his business by his grandparents, but also by the Step Up to Start Up competition he entered when he was still in school, a four-week course and competition which encourages youth entrepreneurship. While he didn’t win, it taught him the ins and outs of starting a business and primed him to look for opportunities.

Today he makes the jam in the same way his grandmother Mabel used to make it while he was growing up, and he runs the operation from a small kitchen next to her tuck shop in Orange Farm. The organic tomatoes and melons that go into the jams are grown nearby, while the pears and peaches have been outsourced to another farmer.

While he’s had challenges in getting funding and knowledge in agro processing to scale his business, Gontse says that being part of Innovation Hub and SEDA (the Small Enterprise Development Agency) has assisted him a lot. He hopes to get his jams into hotels and restaurants around Johannesburg, as well as retail stores.

“We produce 1000 units in a week, which are available on our online store which people can place orders for delivery,” says Gontse. He hopes to be able to make enough profit to create employment around Orange Farm and to buy bigger land to plant more produce as the business grows.

His advice for other young entrepreneurs is to look for inspiration close to home. “Look to the skills that your grandparents have and see how you can make use of them,” says Gontse. “We can start a business from the things that they can teach us!”