Skelmwater is a bare stony hillside dotted with baobab trees, but this has become a special place for Sarah Venter and Diana Mayne. The baobab trees here are each numbered and painted with a neat stripe around their girth. The girth of these trees has been measured since 1931. Diana and Sarah discovered this plot in 2002 when they first went to visit it and found that the measurements had been forgotten and no one was measuring them any more.
It is always a happy and vibrant day when we all go out to celebrate of a year of hard work. So much has happened for EcoProducts this year: moving to new upgraded factory premises, getting HACCP certified – two huge events! Last year we were 22 people and now we are 50 people. So we have doubled our staff and have TREBLED our production output!
We were delighted to join forces with Abalimi Harvest of Hope and have EcoProducts organic baobab powder added to their customers’ organic veggie boxes. Like EcoProducts, Abalimi Harvest of Hope works towards community upliftment through development and employment as well as strongly supporting conservation and nurturing the environment through organic farming practices. We love the work they do and we thought you’d like to learn more about them here!
EcoProducts invited 30 baobab harvesters from across the Venda area to visit the new EcoProducts Baobab Processing Facility in Makhado. The purpose of the visit was to show the harvesters where the fruit goes and what happens to the fruit once it arrives at the factory. We also wanted the harvesters and the factory staff to meet and to discuss the collection and processing challenges, and how these can be overcome through better understanding of the process.
EcoProducts is HACCP certified! It seems that only those businesses who have to go through HACCP certification understand the gruelling and hugely demanding process one has to undergo in order to get this internationally recognised food-safety certification. So we’re thrilled to announce that we are have finally achieved this milestone! Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points is a preventative food safety system […] Continue Reading
EcoProducts is expanding rapidly, so we found ourselves needing to move into bigger and much more spacious premises. And what better reason for a party!
Bernadette McCabe is a Fine Art – Documentary stills photographer based in Cape Town who has developed a deep passion for colour, light, style, mood & texture… and for the magic of telling a story through the lens of a camera and capturing it in a single frame. She loves to create imagery that will move the viewer and at times […] Continue Reading
A little while ago I told you about our Baobab Preschool Programme which our EcoProducts Foundation is supporting. Another project that we’re so excited about is the Baobab Guardians programme. The baobab tree takes 200 years to produce its first fruits, can live for over 1000 years, survives and even flourishes in almost desert-like conditions; but even this mighty giant […] Continue Reading
Thank you to all of you who have been so supportive of the launch of the EcoProducts Foundation. All your shares, likes and comments help spread the word and have been so encouraging to us. We’d like to tell you a little more about one of our programmes, Baobab Pre-school. Like most mothers, Venda women work hard all day long, […] Continue Reading
I decided to create the EcoProducts Foundation (a non-profit organisation) when I realised that simply providing employment to local Venda communities wasn’t enough. I wanted to do more and decided to support early childhood development, which in these rural areas is very neglected. In addition, the results of my PhD research revealed that goats and drought were hampering the growth of young baobab trees. It […] Continue Reading