As a little girl growing up in Limpopo, Ayavuya Sibisi watched her mother create delicious, nutritious smoothies using fresh, seasonal fruits that were always in abundance in that tropical part of South Africa.
That was what prompted the start of her award winning business Tropical Paradise Smoothie Bar, which won her R20 000 in the Existing Business: General category at the 6th EDHE Entrepreneurship Intervarsity 2024 national finals held in Johannesburg on 22 November.
“These smoothies became a source of joy and connection in our home – if one was sick then a smoothie would be the first thing to drink to give dense nutrients.”
Ms Ayavuya Sibisi, founder of the Tropical Paradise Smoothie Bar and winner of the Intervarsity national finals in the Existing Business: General category.
The 24-year-old final year psychology and linguistics student at the University of KwaZulu Natal, who grew up with eight brothers and two sisters, said: “I knew the foundation of a successful business was solving a genuine need, so I began looking for problems to solve.
Gap in the market
“I saw a gap in the market for healthy, affordable, and convenient food options. The answer came to me in the form of those childhood smoothies – signature flavours passed down in my family, made with love and designed to bring joy. “By combining these recipes with a sustainable business model that uses “third-class” fruits, Tropical Paradise Smoothie Bar was born.”
Sibisi began her presentation to the judges: “Did you know that two out of five people in this room are likely to develop a chronic illness in their lifetime? In fast paced environments like university campuses and corporate offices, people tend to rely on unhealthy processed foods that are easy to grab but take a heavy toll on their health.”
People, she continued, are consuming too little fruit and vegetables, often because of the lack of access to nutritious options. That has fuelled a surge of chronic illnesses that are preventable with better nutrition.
“Shockingly, about 45% of fresh farm produce in South Africa goes to waste for being ugly or being over ripe. Tropical Paradise aims to address these issues by creating smoothie packs that are made from third class produce.
“Our smoothie pack flavours are crafted in the tropical paradise of Limpopo/Venda and we operate a mobile smoothie bar and do onsite deliveries.”
Sibisi boasts that she adds no preservatives, additives or colourants and her smoothie packs are sugar free.
The business model
The global smoothie market is estimated to be around R210 billion. “In South Africa, where smoothies are a significant player in the juice market, the smoothie market is estimated to be around R2.1b with an annual growth rate of 3.4% year on year. We aim to capture 5% of that market in the next five years which is our serviceable, obtainable market of R105-m.
“We have sold over 7 000 smoothies and have served six corporate companies in Durban. We treasure and source the ugly looking ripe fruit from local farmers and the fresh fruit market.
“The fruits are then cleaned, chopped and measured into our signature smoothie packs. And the organic waste is then given to a company that creates bio-gas. Our smoothies are then sold through our mobile units and through catering.”
These are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that Tropical Paradise Smoothie Bar will not compromise on:
SDG 3: Good health and well-being – Promoting better nutrition with healthy smoothies
SDG 5: Gender equality – women led, hiring and empowering women
SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth – creating jobs and supporting local farmers
SDG12: Responsible consumption and production – reducing food waste by using third class produce and recycling organic waste.
Revenue models
Ayavuya explained her three current revenue models:
- Smoothie on wheels (including Uber Eats, food truck,
- Office Smoothie bar (delivering to offices in refrigerated ice boxes)
- Catering (for between 10 and 800 people)
“The retail stream needs us to have a fully-fledged manufacturing unit. At the moment we use our mobile kitchen, which limits bulk orders.
‘We leverage educational social media marketing, influencer partnerships, loyalty programmes and pop ups to market ourselves,” she said.
Making an argument for being awarded the overall prize of R100 000, Ayavuya said the money would help her secure a manufacturing facility which “will allow us to supply five universities and corporate offices through the existing businesses. It would also help obtain product certification to scale.
“Our competitive advantage is that our smoothies are affordable, healthy, accessible and freshly made.”
After winning the award, Ayavuya said: “What excites me the most is seeing the joy our smoothies bring to people’s lives and knowing that they’re making healthier choices and not compromising on taste because of our offerings.
“Additionally, the opportunity to expand this project into a scalable business that creates jobs, uplifts communities, and aligns with global sustainability goals makes this journey even more rewarding.”
Her favourite smoothie? “I love all of them but my go to smoothie – since my favourite fruit is mango – is called Mango Tango.”
Questions and Answers
Judge Zanele Matome Founder & CEO, Welo Health: Does your scaling involve franchises?
Sibisi: We are basically in the business of manufacturing smoothie packs. Our scaling looks like adding franchising and mobile units, adding more products to retail. And having our smoothie bars operate within corporate offices.
If we have a manufacturing unit, scaling becomes easier as we are making the same product over and over again. We are ambitious – we also want to tap into the global market and supply our smoothie packs internationally. There is a demand – people are becoming more health conscious.
Judge Dr Otlhapile Dinakenyane – Acting Director: Technology Transfer, Botswana International: You work with perishables but you pride yourself on not using preservatives. I was wondering how you ensure the freshness of your product?
Sibisi: we supply smoothie packs that are kept frozen. I have also given you examples of our dry smoothie packs. That is how we will proceed. Less preservatives and additives.
Judge Khwezi Fudu Cenenda (right)– Director: Enterprise and Supplier Development, Avocado Vision: I don’t have a question. I am your target market. I support businesses like yours. I want to encourage you… as you think about scaling, remember your costs remain low but your revenue grows.
Yet when you describe scaling, your costs seem to be going up. If you talk about setting up kiosks at universities, that means new kiosks, and employees manning those. Think about strategies you can employ that allow you to grow revenue without increasing your costs.
Judge Zakheni Ngubo, Chief Executive Officer, Blankett Technologies Group: Is there a market for individual households – either the actual smoothie or the vegetable packs?
Sibisi: Households will be able to order our packs and store them in their freezers.
Our packs have instructions for use on them, so parents will be able to blend them for their children. They provide more nutrients.
Sibisi concluded: “Our plans for the future are centred on growth, impact, and sustainability. In the short term, we aim to scale Tropical Paradise Smoothie Bar to cater to more markets such as corporate wellness programmes, retail stores, and university food outlets.
“In the long-term, we envision Tropical Paradise becoming a household name. We plan to expand our distribution nationwide and eventually into international markets, focusing on providing nutritious, ready-to-blend smoothies while supporting local farmers and reducing food waste.”
Charmain Naidoo is a contract writer for Universities South Africa