11 Feb 2019

Ms Matilda Mpai has resorted to the abundant morula fruit to sustain her life. 

She started reaping the fruits of morula in 2015 when she started her company, Divine Morula. 

Ms Mpai said she extracts the pulp of the morula fruit to produce cosmetics, morula jam and drink. 

She said because the fruit was seasonal, the company collected enough to sustain its operations until the next season, saying they have a cold room to keep the pulp so it does not expire. 

She said Divine Morula started operating in January 2015 after acquiring funding from the African Women Development Fund (AWDF), which is based in Ghana. 

Ms Mpai said as part of the company’s support for women and empowerment efforts, it has offered temporary employment of morula fruit collectors exclusively to women. 

She said during the past three years, the company was housed at the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) incubators in Pilane, but has since relocated to Mogoditshane.

She said she was hopeful that their products would be in shops next year, revealing that the drink has been served at the State House, and was also sold to companies during their corporate events as a way of marketing it. 

Ms Mpai said she has packaged the product into 330ml bottles so that her brand could also be recognised nationwide, adding that she was looking forward to selling it outside the country as she believed they could do much more internationally. 

She said she looked forward to having partnerships with hotels and guest houses in order to provide them with oils and juices. 

Ms Mpai said she planned to make a morula shake in a few months just to proof that the fruit was not only used to make alcohol. 

Just like any other company, she said hers faced financial challenges, adding that she, however, chooses to sacrifice for the company’s sake. 

“Some days are tougher than others, but that motivates me to keep moving as I believe that in time, it will be the best selling in the country and in the world,” she said.

Ms Mpai said it was also a struggle to convince some people to buy the product although she knows its nutritional value and believes in it as it has helped her and her family. 

She thanked LEA for the support and marketing they have given her, stressing that she was who she was because of them. 

Ms Mpai encouraged women and youth to explore business opportunities for greener pastures. 

“Nothing comes easy. It has not been easy but am still surviving. People should learn that business is not easy and will never be easy." ENDS