How Thornybush is working with BeNica Farm to bring more locally grown produce into our kitchens and open up new markets for farmers around the Greater Kruger.
At Thornybush, we’ve been looking more closely at where the food served in our lodges comes from and how much more of it could be sourced from the local communities around us.
That thinking has led to a new partnership with BeNica Farm in Bushbuckridge, founded by farmer and entrepreneur Bennedict Mhlongo. Through the partnership, locally grown produce from BeNica and its wider network of farmers is now making its way into our lodge kitchens.
It’s a simple idea, but an important one. Safari lodges buy significant amounts of fresh produce, while farmers just beyond the reserve boundaries are often looking for reliable markets for what they grow.
Juan Ferreira, who has been driving the initiative at Thornybush, describes the approach as “shrinking the circle”, looking at what we buy, where it comes from and how more of that spend can stay within the region.
BeNica is a natural fit for that idea.
Bennedict has spent more than a decade building the business from a small farming operation into a network that connects local growers with supermarkets, markets and hospitality businesses across the Greater Kruger.
And it all began with chillies.
It started with chillies
Bennedict began farming around 2013 on a small piece of land in Rooiboklaagte. One of the early moments he still remembers clearly was an order for R5,500 worth of chillies.
It wasn’t an enormous contract, but it mattered. Someone wanted what he had grown, there was a market for it, and suddenly farming looked a little less like an experiment and a little more like a business.
Those chillies are still part of BeNica today, but the farm has grown well beyond them. Tomatoes, cabbage, spinach, peppers, butternut, broccoli, cauliflower and herbs all form part of the fresh produce offering, alongside BeNica’s sauces, atchar, honey and lemongrass tea.
The more interesting part of the model, though, is what happens beyond Bennedict’s own fields.
BeNica farms around 10 hectares directly, but works with a much wider network of growers, with access to roughly another 50 hectares through them. Around 70% of the produce the business trades now comes from other farmers.
That changes the role BeNica plays.
A small farmer may have excellent spinach but not enough volume to supply a lodge consistently. Another may have tomatoes, someone else cabbage, and another herbs. Individually, getting into larger hospitality or retail supply chains can be difficult. Together, with BeNica collecting, coordinating and supplying the produce, it becomes far more workable.
As Bennedict puts it: “What gives me the greatest satisfaction is seeing other people grow around what we have built.”
And that is really where this story becomes bigger than one farm.
The difficult bit isn’t always growing the food
Talk to farmers for long enough and you realise that a good crop does not automatically mean a good year.
Bennedict has dealt with floods, fire, water shortages, crop failures and difficult financial periods. But even when everything goes right in the field, there is still the question of who will buy what has been grown.
“A farmer can produce excellent vegetables, but without a reliable buyer, there is no sustainable business,” he adds.
That certainty matters.
Knowing there is demand makes it easier to decide what to plant and in what quantities. It makes employing people less risky and gives farmers a reason to invest in irrigation, equipment or additional land. When BeNica receives a larger order, that demand can also create opportunities for the smaller growers supplying the business.
This is why Thornybush’s relationship with BeNica is not simply about buying vegetables locally because it sounds like a good idea. It has to work commercially on both sides.
Our kitchens need quality, consistency, enough volume and reliable deliveries. Farmers need orders that make financial sense and buyers they can plan around. If the two can meet in the middle, local procurement becomes something sustainable rather than symbolic.
Head Chef Solly and the team at Thornybush Game Lodge are now part of working out what that looks like in practice.
Keeping more of tourism’s value close to home
The Greater Kruger has an enormous tourism economy. Guests arrive from all over the world, stay in lodges, eat three meals a day, drink, travel, shop and experience the region.
The question is how much of the value created by that activity can circulate locally.
There is no single answer, and local procurement is not always the easiest option. Hospitality businesses need dependable suppliers, while smaller businesses often need help reaching the scale and meeting the requirements those buyers have.
But when a local business is already building that bridge, it makes sense to look at how we can work together.
For Thornybush, this sits alongside the wider work we do in the communities neighbouring the Thornybush Nature Reserve. Supporting livelihoods is not only about creating programmes. Sometimes it means looking at the way the business itself operates, who we buy from, who gets access to opportunities and where our spend goes.
In this case, it starts in the kitchen.
Bennedict has a phrase he comes back to often: “People shall eat!”
It sounds simple, but he means much more than putting vegetables on a plate. BeNica currently employs around 15 people and regularly takes on agricultural students and interns, giving them practical experience of irrigation, pest management, harvesting, packaging, marketing and the less glamorous but essential business of compliance.
Bennedict is passionate about young agricultural graduates understanding that farming is both a science and a business. Knowing how to grow something is one thing. Knowing how to price it, package it, sell it and get paid for it is quite another.
He is also involved in the Bushbuckridge Fresh Produce Market initiative, another attempt to solve the same basic problem: how smaller farmers can combine what they produce to access bigger buyers.
His longer-term plans for BeNica follow that same thread. He wants a proper packhouse, cold-storage facilities and a larger agro-processing operation. He would also like to establish a BeNica Farming Academy and, eventually, create an ecotourism element where visitors can learn more about farming and food production in Bushbuckridge.
They are ambitious plans, but they make sense when you look at what he has already built.
Growing Together
While this partnership is still in its early stages, it represents something much greater than simply sourcing fresh produce. It is about building meaningful relationships, supporting local farmers and creating opportunities that benefit the wider community.
For Thornybush, sustainability is found in these everyday choices. From the farmers who nurture the produce to the chefs who bring it to life on our guests’ plates, each plays a part in a story of shared growth and opportunity.
What started with a R5,500 order of chillies is now growing into something much bigger, and we look forward to seeing where this journey takes us.
