Nearly 20 years in the past, Heather van Zyl started baking rusks in her kitchen for neighbours and pals. Lately she sells 60t throughout 5 provinces. Mike Burgess visited her just lately at the farm Van Zylsrust close to Woman Gray within the Japanese Cape to higher perceive her secret to luck.
Picture: Heather van Zyl
Heather van Zyl’s past due mom, Joey, taught her to bake the very best rusk when she was once nonetheless a teen within the Japanese Cape district of Ugie. It was once a valuable ability that a long time later she used because the cornerstone for her Heavanz (an amalgamation of the names Heather and Van Zyl) rusk trade.
But even so the ability of with the ability to produce scrumptious rusks the usage of the name of the game circle of relatives recipe, an added factor to her luck has surely been her paintings ethic.
That is perhaps superb mirrored by means of the truth that regardless of being a instructor and and not using a revel in within the bakery trade, she has controlled to consolidate the a success Heavanz rusk emblem throughout huge swathes of the rustic. “I’ve by no means been in a position to take a seat nonetheless,’’ she explains. “I simply can’t do not anything.’’
Turning to rusks
Heavanz Rusks is a made of Heather’s industrious nature, which was once answerable for a few farm-based enterprises she had introduced after deciding on Van Zylsrust with husband, Pierre Van Zyl, in 1989.
Actually, by means of the early Nineteen Nineties, she was once speculating with Angora goats after a crash within the Mohair worth opened a possibility to supply goats from dissatisfied mohair manufacturers after which promote them for slaughter within the former Transkei. But if Mohair costs stabilised, the once-lucrative alternative vanished in a single day.
She then started breeding and slaughtering pigs within the mid-Nineteen Nineties and was once quickly supplying beef into the previous Transkei. Alternatively, after a decade of profitable business, the person who bought the majority of her beef started to slaughter his personal pigs. She was once by no means to recuperate from this surprising flip of occasions and bought all her pigs in 2004.
Now not lengthy after this sadness, Pierre satisfied her to pursue rusk manufacturing as a brand new trade challenge. He argued that her baking abilities may just lay the root for a successful trade and shortly the Van Zylsrust farm kitchen was once in complete rusk manufacturing to meet the calls for of neighbours, pals, and circle of relatives.
In 2006, extra rusk orders compelled Heather to repurpose her previous butchery right into a bakery with inexpensive baking apparatus together with an oven, mixer, and dryer (all nonetheless in carrier these days). As soon as she was once in a position to make sure constant high quality rusk manufacturing within the now extra industrialised baking surroundings, she started to distribute rusks past the Woman Gray district.
From that time onwards she handiest higher manufacturing as dictated by means of her rising marketplace and was once made up our minds to steer clear of slipping into debt in any respect prices, a philosophy that may stand her in just right stead within the face of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
“I survived COVID as a result of I didn’t have debt and I didn’t wish to hire a development,’’ she says. ‘’My recommendation to anyone making an attempt to determine a equivalent challenge is subsequently to begin small and be affected person.’’
High quality and diversity
The Heavanz bakery quickly proved to be an enormous luck and is now generating 60t of rusks a 12 months. The important thing to this luck is her well-trained personnel of 4.
“All my staff are supplied to do and arrange each step of the baking procedure together with to combine, bake, bundle and distribute,’’ says Heather. “We organise ourselves as superb conceivable, to make sure optimum manufacturing.’’
She was once specifically cautious to not sacrifice high quality when starting to produce higher volumes of rusks in her new bakery. “I feel whilst you industrialise the [baking] procedure for the sake of volumes, you chance shedding high quality. To me, high quality has at all times been non-negotiable.’’
As an example, she her rusks aren’t baked with processed yeast, however fairly a herbal yeast constructed from a maize starter. “Prior to I used to be married, my mom made me a starter and it hasn’t ever died,’’ she says. “From that starter I produced extra. I now have 30.’’
Heather additionally does no longer shy clear of going to remarkable hassle to supply handiest the finest components for her rusks. As an example, nuts are sourced from Nelspruit (Mpumalanga), and Hartswater (Northern Cape) whilst the best-quality butter and eggs (powdered eggs are an abomination to her!) are sourced in the community, as she believes in making an investment in native communities.
In the beginning, she handiest baked conventional boerebeskuit and aniseed rusks, however up to now 12 years has added 9 extra types (walnut; pecan; macadamia; high-fibre low-sugar; walnut and cherry well being; buttermilk; butter and bran; and seeds). She plans to release a brand new almond and coconut rusk subsequent 12 months that may double as her twelfth selection.
“We introduce new types to stay our merchandise thrilling and to be sure that other people don’t become bored,’’ says Heather. “We additionally experience experimenting with new recipes; it brings us pleasure to take a look at out one thing new.’’
Advertising and distribution
Heather says probably the most precious type of advertising and marketing has been phrase of mouth. “Other folks style my rusks and discuss it to others. This easy spreading of the phrase stays one of the best type of advertising and marketing.’’
Actually, it’s what fuelled the Heavanz rusk emblem lengthy ahead of the usage of Fb and WhatsApp platforms or, maximum just lately, a web page.
Heather additionally stresses the significance of vending one’s personal product, simply to verify it’s displayed as attractively as conceivable in all shops.
However much more a very powerful no longer handiest in relation to presentation however advertising and marketing in a broader sense, is the packaging of her rusks. “In case your packaging isn’t just right, then your product in it isn’t represented properly both. High quality packaging is subsequently completely a very powerful.’’
Distribution of her rusks in a couple of provinces has through the years proved tough as she relied on courier services and products that ceaselessly broken the product whilst in transit. She has tailored by means of packing the rusks extra sparsely the usage of supporting fabrics, and handiest makes use of pudo, which employs a sensible locker-to-locker supply device.
She additionally just lately bought a VW Caddy and trailer and has taken keep watch over of the distribution of rusks all the way down to East London and as much as Bloemfontein. Lately Heavanz rusks will also be discovered all over throughout South Africa, from huge Spar shops in towns to 16 OVK shops around the Japanese Cape and Unfastened State platteland, to small espresso stores and grocery shops as some distance afield as KwaZulu-Natal and North West.
It sort of feels inevitable that the unfold of Heavanz rusks will transfer past their present outposts within the nation, bringing the original style and high quality of Heather’s rusks to an increasing number of appreciative shoppers.
Telephone Heather van Zyl on 084 867 8097, or e-mail her at [email protected].