The collaboration between Pineut and Salu in South Africa
Creating employment and making an impact, that sounds like a dream, right? The collaboration between Marlies and Martha started as an ambition, but grew into a concrete and successful project.
Pineut is a Dutch company that offers opportunities to people with a distance to the labor market by making DIY products, such as baking mixes and drinks. This inspiring concept caught the attention of Martha in South Africa. That is how she founded Salu with the help of Marlies.
Pineut's role: sharing knowledge and resources
Marlies helped in various ways to give Martha's company the right direction. We provided recipes and work instructions to ensure the production process ran smoothly. We also shared knowledge about how to efficiently set up a production process. We also supported in finding the right suppliers.
The first delivery of bottles and some of the ingredients we arranged for Salu in terms of transport, so that they could make a good start (for a fee of course). The journey was not always easy. Sometimes deliveries can take a very long time, but perseverance is the strength here. After three months of waiting for a shipment of bottles, we finally received a relieved message:
“Nearly 3 months, but it's here! Thank you so much for your help with the bottles.”
Success stories straight from South Africa
We receive regular updates via WhatsApp about the steps and impact that Martha and her team are making.
“Salu was invited (very last minute) to be at KamersMakers in Stellenbosch… Super popular market – since then it has really taken off… can’t keep up, so to speak.”
These are the moments when we realize how important sharing knowledge and resources is. A small push in the right direction can have a huge impact.
A team with a mission
In South Africa, Martha now employs four part-time staff. Two of them work through Volmoet Leadership, an organization that supports young people in their development. The other two girls come from the Camphill School, where young people with disabilities receive education and guidance. For example, they help with labeling all the products, an important step in the production process.
Martha: the driving force behind the company
Although Pineut is very involved, Marlies is not the owner of the company. That is Martha, an entrepreneur who is making her dream come true. She visited us twice: once in our production house to learn about all the production processes and once in the office to gain extra knowledge. Her perseverance and enthusiasm are infectious and we are proud that we were able to help her on her way.
Building a better future together
For us, this is not just a collaboration. This is what Pineut stands for: creating opportunities, sharing knowledge and helping people to make an impact independently. Together we make the world a little more beautiful – bottle by bottle, label by label.