Imfino Yethu a new green grocer coming to the St. Lucia hospitality scene.

Imfino  Yethu - project works initiative.

Imfino Yethu is a new green grocer coming to  St. Lucia,

KZN south africa. Imfino Yethu came about  as a spin off of a project work  initiative.  The initial intent  at project work, was to empower a group of ladies in the Dukuduku South region  area, within the subsistence agricultural arena,

The question became what does the market require?  And is there sufficient market size to remain viable once training completed?

upon investigation of the local green grocer business it was discovered that  there is no local green grocer within the Mtubatuba local municipality.

It was thus a  logical conclusion that project work establish a green grocer  to take up   a share of the green grocery business  which will fulfil the needs of the local hospitality industry and the Food and beverage industry of the Greater St. Lucia area.

Project work has passed the Imfino Zethu project along to one of the pioneer members of the project work management team   WE at Project work  expect this project to be  run as a viable profit making business.  AS long as Imfino Yethu remains viable, the trainees empowered by our practical farming for subsistence farmers, will have a sustainable outlet for these folks to maintain in the vegetable and herb growing business, showing profit for their physical inputs.

Besides the official prefered outlet for these trainees end products, The hospitality industry along with the food and beverage industry, there is also a reasonable sized market for the various greens that are consumed by the indigenous population of the Mtubatuba local municipality.  Then there is also the new market that is opening up due to the exposure of the south African market to shows like master chef, and braai master, where all these fancy herbs and related fresh produce are used to prepare really tasty dishes.  These online cooking shows are slowly opening up the niche areas to speciality herbs and indigenous food products like wild spinach, amongst many others.

There is no outlet for these products, as there is no marketing done by the farmers and farming associations within the Mtubatuba Local municipality. Imfino Yethu and Project work along with our marketing teams and advertising partners are in the process of changing this, and there will soon be some aggressive marketing of these fresh herbs and related spinach / green leaf varieties.

This marketing of fresh herbs, greens and other veggies will be a FUFISM based online marketing drive associated with a print media campaign, focusing on the local household markets of the Monzi / Dukuduku / St. Lucia / Khula and an online campaign along with a #HASHTAG  focusing on all visitors to St. Lucia, highlighting restaurants where this produce is prepared and served, with a primary focus on the local Imfino and other indigenous greens.

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Also do a hashtag search for #IMFINOYETHU to discover who is talking about this agricultural development project.

Imfino Zethu, your Green Groccer in St. Lucia

IMFINO ZEHTU IS A PROJECT WORK INITIATIVE

Imfino Zethu is a green grocer that will soon be based in St. Lucia by the sea, to cater for the fresh herb and produce needs of the tourism and  hospitality  industries within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, along the Elephant Coast of KZN South Africa.

The basic concept for running a green grocer style shop that focuses on culinary herbs and related fresh produce came about when researchers working for project work evaluated the supply and demand chain for fresh produce such as herbs, spinach and the other fresh produce that would be used in high end restaurants as well as in the many bed & breakfast establishments in the Mtubatuba Municipality. The major focus was on a brief study within the high end restaurants and food chains within the St. Lucia village.

Our research team was instructed not to let the folks know that they were doing a #PEEPSEE type study of what herbs were sourced local and what was not locally available.   this was successful as I do believe that none of these guys realized that they were being spied on, so that we could evaluate the feasibility of a green grocer within the village of St. Lucia.  Well there is quite some competition when it comes to the standard fair of potatoes, onions, cabbage and carrots, but once one steps up in the market and starts asking around for things like jem squash,, Mswelies, Mbatha, Uqadolo or Imbuya, then you get asked what are you talking about.

Well these are traditional African greens, which all fall under the umbrella of Imfino.  Imfino is a Zulu Word which can be loosely translated as Green Leafy Vegetables. And Imfino Zethu can be loosely translated into English as Our greens or fresh leafy veggies.

The idea here is to establish a green grocer focusing on culinary herbs and African style Greens, so that a small group of farmers in the Dukuduku South Region of the Greater St. Lucia wetlands can have a sustainable market for their fresh produce.  We still need to do some work on the education side of things, so that the farmers can understand the needs of their client base, and package the herbs and Imfino in a suitable manner for consumption within that market space.  We still have some time for that as the first seeds have not germinated yet, how ever there is prep work on the ground in progress.

Our  lesson on the practical aspects of packaging their end products,  will be a small hands on tour of a few different retail outlets that supply fresh herbs to the public, and include, but not be limited to :  Food Lovers Market in Richards bay,  checkers, shop-right, OK FOODS, Richards Bay spar. Pick n Pay Mtubatuba, Pick n pay Richards Bay Board walk.

Project work will soon be getting its own blog, which will work together with my blog to promote all  tourism issues, focusing on using the beach as a tourism attraction, and living off of the passing trade associated with the recreational use of our beaches within the iSimangaliso Wetland park.

Project work is also discussed here 

Thanx for reading now please do share this with your social media networks.  we would really appreciate the extra exposure.

#projectwork

#FRANKIE2SOCKS