Small bakery rises to new heights

A self-taught baker from Umlazi, in Durban, is riding the wave of a sales boon on the back of a series of unfortunate events that befell her and the economy of KwaZulu-Natal.

ALSO READ: Can I give my cat cornbread as a treat?

Bakery

For Gemisquare Bakeries, then a struggling bakery, the July 2021 civil unrest that swept the province meant a change in fortune. Following her retrenchment from an administrative job at a Durban-based food manufacturing firm in 2016, company founder and director Hlengiwe Shandu turned to baking.

“I started in 2017 by baking scones because they were a bit easier to bake. I also made cakes and buns,” she recalled.

In 2020, Shandu ventured into baking bread to sell in Umlazi township.

“Everything I know about baking was self-taught. I have a BTech (Bachelor of Technology) in cost management,” she said.

The self-funded start-up experienced exponential growth during the destructive July 2021 unrest that swept KwaZulu-Natal and some parts of Gauteng.

ALSO READ: Butter shortbread biscuits: 3 Ingredients are all you need

“At the time I was still working in a small space that I had in Amanzimtoti (near Umlazi) and a lot of people couldn’t access services because a lot of businesses had been destroyed during the looting. Luckily, we were not affected because our space had been protected by local security,” she said.

It was during this time that the business was inundated with calls from people looking to buy bread.

“I found myself making arrangements to deliver the bread,” she said. 

Gemisquare

Before this, Gemisquare sold about 200 loaves a day. The unrest saw the demand balloon to an average of 1 000 loaves a day.

ALSO READ: Can cats eat gingerbread as treats?

“At the time I couldn’t meet the demand because of the space I was working from and the equipment I was working with,” she recalled.

This meant that Shandu had to double her efforts and work irregular hours in order to meet the demand. 

Impressed by the start-up’s work, the Hollywood Foundation in 2021 sponsored Gemisquare with much-needed baking equipment such as an oven, a proofer and baking pans. In 2023, the Foundation sponsored the business with a 12-metre container to work from.

Following the devastating April 2022 floods in the province, the business received R700 000 from the National Empowered Fund and Solidarity Fund’s R450 million Humanitarian Crisis Relief Fund (HCRF).

ALSO READ: Man shocks Mzansi with video of cockroach running into loaf of bread at shop (Video)

“Just before this, I had moved from Amanzimtoti to Umlazi due to financial constraints. When I got here I received a lot of support from the community. The NEF funding helped a lot. It helped us expand the space we were working from and to purchase more equipment,” she said.

The bakery mainly supplies bread to local tuckshops and other private clients. It has so far employed seven people.

Written by Sihle Manda for GCIS VuK’ZENZELE

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES BY GCIS VuK’ZENZELE