KZN man went from home baking to making 12,000 'snowballs' a week for Pick n Pay

KwaZulu-Natal baker Njabulo Sithole has gone from baking cakes in his kitchen to making 12,000 “snowballs” a week for 200 Pick n Pay supermarkets.

The 43-year-old father of two runs his bakery, Bakers Creationz, near the Inanda Dam, north of Durban.

Pick n Pay said Bakers Creationz won its Small Suppliers of the Year Award, which recognises suppliers for their performance, sales growth or ability to create jobs.

After quitting his job as a marketing manager in 2012 to pursue his passion for baking, Sithole struggled to get his business off the ground.

“In 2014 I gave up my dream of starting in a business facility and started trading from my home kitchen, convinced my business plan would work out in the end.”

Sithole initially supplied schools with cakes, muffins and cupcakes, paying schoolchildren commission for selling them. 

“Orders started pouring in and I was able to move to a larger kitchen later that year. I started saving the money I was making to buy equipment from other bakeries which were closing down.”

Sithole converted space at Maphephetheni near the Inanda Dam.

“This space has expanded with the business and we now occupy 300m².”

In the early days, Sithole had minimal income and said there was a time when he could not even buy bread for his family. 

“I realised I needed to keep going and develop products for which there was a market. I started small-scale but my vision was always to supply major retailers.”

He delivered his products himself by taxi.

In 2016 he joined the Pick n Pay Boost Your Biz programme and not only won, but also gained access to the retail giant.

Pick n Pay said Sithole started supplying them with his range of snowballs — raspberry, chocolate and vanilla — almost two years ago and “sales have grown by more than 400% in the past year”.

He supplies 191 shops in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal after launching in 57 supermarkets in Durban.

“Initially, Bakers Creationz supplied Pick n Pay with 3,200 units a week and today supplies 6,000 units twice a week,” said the retailer.

“I expected the [Covid-19] pandemic to affect the business badly and orders initially slowed down. But supermarkets were busy and we eventually peaked our production to twice what it was before lockdown. This encouraged me and I realised I had something special,” Sithole said.

His bakery escaped unscathed in the July 2021 riots

Sithole said winning the award boosted his confidence and he realised where he can improve.

“My vision and goal for this year are to continue expanding to other Pick n Pay regions and to extend and increase product lines.”

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