What began as a struggling local bakery more than a decade ago is now reaching international skies. In a breakthrough moment for Cape Town entrepreneurship, Khayelitsha Cookies has secured major export agreements that will see its proudly South African biscuits landing on British shelves and being served to international travellers thousands of kilometres from home.
Khayelitsha Cookies has secured two export agreements worth more than one point four million rand in what industry observers are calling a major milestone for one of the Western Cape’s most inspiring community-driven businesses.
The Cape Town-based social enterprise has signed new supply agreements with two United Kingdom partners, a move that will not only see its products enter British retail channels, but will also place its biscuits onboard selected British Airways flights, giving the proudly local brand a new global audience.
The agreements were concluded with support from the UK Trade Partnership programme, an initiative designed to help exporters access the British market under preferential trade conditions.
Under the programme, most qualifying South African goods can enter the UK tariff-free, improving competitiveness and allowing smaller producers to compete in one of the world’s most demanding retail environments.
For Khayelitsha Cookies, the latest breakthrough represents far more than a commercial contract.
The business was acquired out of financial distress more than a decade ago and gradually rebuilt into a labour-intensive social enterprise focused on job creation rather than automation, with a strong emphasis on employing women from underserved communities across the Western Cape, including Khayelitsha.
From modest beginnings with limited equipment and only a handful of workers, the company has steadily grown into a scaled manufacturing operation supplying local retailers, hospitality groups, and selected international markets, including earlier exports to the United States and France.
Operations executive Tommy Williams said the new agreements mark an exciting chapter for the business.
“We will now be supplying two UK-based companies, with our biscuits making their way across the country and sharing the taste of South Africa,” he said.
The social impact of that growth remains central to the company’s mission.
According to Khayelitsha Cookies, every new job created within the business supports between five and seven dependants, highlighting what management describes as the “multiplier effect” of sustainable employment in township communities.
During a recent factory visit in Beaconvale, British High Commissioner to South Africa Antony Phillipson praised the business and the women behind its success.
“I was deeply inspired by their entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to their community,” Phillipson said, adding that the business demonstrates how international demand can directly translate into local economic opportunity.
With the latest contracts now secured, Khayelitsha Cookies says further expansion and additional hiring are expected in the months ahead, reinforcing the company’s founding belief that commercial success can be used as a powerful tool for community upliftment.
Source: Moneyweb – Liesl Peyper.
