Having grown up in Limpopo, her father is a beekeeper. Needless to say Mokgadi’s very familiar with honey, yet had no intention of going into beekeeping.
“Once I completed my degree I started working in corporate, and while there I realised that people were not consuming what I thought was honey. Well at least not the honey that I grew up having or that my father was making. As a result I decided to share some of my father’s honey with them and then everybody just wanted more of this honey. I started selling my fathers honey to them but soon the demand grew so much that he couldn’t keep up with the orders, and then introduced me to some of the beekeepers in his network who at the time had no access to formal markets. When that ran out he decided it was time to get a few of my own beehives so that I secure my own supply,” shares Mokgadi.
It started with one and has since expanded to a brand called Native Nosi, that Mokgadi founded in 2015 and owns just over 300 beehives to produce honey and assist farmers with pollination services.