19 Feb 2026

What began as a small stall selling lerotse juice, lerotse porridge, lengangale and seed snacks has grown into a vibrant indigenous foods café.

Last week, Triple A Farm, based in Gakuto locality, officially expanded its operations with the launch of Toby and Abby Café in White City, Gaborone, along Kaunda Road.

The founder and managing director of Triple A Farm and the café,  Lere Tapologo said the café was named in remembrance of her two sons, Toby and Abby, who died in a car accident in February 2020. She noted the painful coincidence that Kaunda Road where the café now stands was the same road that claimed their lives, a fact she only discovered after choosing the location.

“As we officially open our café today, may Toby and Abby Café stand as a beacon of community spirit, creativity and cultural achievement,” she said.

 Tapologo explained that the name Triple A was derived from the names of her children: Aobakwe, Atang and Ame.

“Some people thought this is a tuckshop. This is a café. Our mission is simple. We do not only want to serve coffee because it is a café or because people are hungry, we want to give people indigenous food,” she said.

She added that the business focuses on making indigenous food fashionable while maintaining their health benefits. Traditionally, foods such as lengangale were served plainly and attracted little interest, but the café has repackaged them to be visually appealing.

 Tapologo said Toby and Abby Café was born from a powerful dream to create a one-stop destination where culture, community and culinary creativity thrive together.

“We did not want to sell just food. We wanted to tell a story through every bite and every sip , the story of the land that nourishes us, the hands that cultivate our food and the traditions that ground us, from agro-processing to the final plate,” she said.

She emphasised that the café celebrated sustainability and authenticity. She often labels her products ‘authentic bogobe jwa lerotse’ to distinguish them from modern city versions that include added spices.

Every ingredient, she said, represented a journey from farm to table, connecting rural producers with local consumers in ways that uplift communities.

Local collectors supply Triple A Farm with indigenous fruits such as brandy bush (moretlwa), sour plum (moretologa), milo and others.  Tapologo believes many people are now eager to reconnect with natural, traditional foods, and the café provides easy access to those tastes.

The café strictly sells indigenous beverages and foods, including morula nectar, lerotse juice, baobab drinks and moretologa juice, rather than products commonly found in large retail stores.

She said the café also served as a platform for other citizen-owned indigenous brands. Producers such as Secret Kalahari, which trades in donkey milk products, and Phatsima Innovations, which adds value to moringa and other indigenous products, are invited to sell their goods there.

“We want this café to be a one-stop shop where any Motswana who wants indigenous products can come and find everything from our land,” she said.

 Tapologo stressed that the business was not only about selling food, it was also about sustaining livelihoods, supporting farmers and cultivating change through investment in local produce, people and the environment.

She urged the nation to take indigenous foods seriously and embrace healthier alternatives, cautioning against snacks and foods high in refined sugars. She said Triple A Farm avoided harmful additives in its processing and took pride in producing healthy items such as its energy bars.

She acknowledged that the journey of Triple A Farm had been supported by stakeholders including the Local Enterprise Authority. Tapologo also noted that the café ensured its organic products met quality standards by testing them at the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute. ENDS