Shopfox

Oh, hi there! You’ve caught us at a great time! In fact, we have so much to tell you, we’re practically bursting at the seams! We’ve been keeping a secret the past couple of months. (Which, if you know the gals at Shopfox, it’s not particularly hard for them. Most of the time they’re pretty happy just having each other to share their secrets with.) But not on this one – my gosh – they’ve wanted to blast it from the rooftops! Alas… it was neither the time nor the place. Today though, it happens to be precisely both of those things. So, you ask, what’s this secret then? You’ve strung us along and we want to know. Well, we’re not gonna to give it away right off the bat. We’ll tell you the story and you tell us whether you think it was blasting-on-the-rooftops worthy. When the Shopfox girls set about creating an online space for local brands, they knew just how tough it was going to be competing against established, well known international brands. Well, they thought they knew. Turns out – they didn’t, and it was a crap ton harder than they ever imagined. But they set about working for something they believed in with people who inspired them… and in the months that followed, they were continually surprised (wonderfully so) by just how many incredibly talented South Africans were skillfully building small brands. It’s hella exciting, you wouldn’t believe the half of it. These creators, dreamers, doers are going out there and slaying. Best believe, the odds are not in their favour. Being a small fish in a big pond is damn scary. It’s tough conditions, and not for the faint hearted. But that’s kinda what South Africans are made for. We’re a hardy bunch. Seldom short of grit, and always full of vasbyt! Did you know that 80-90% of all new start-up businesses fail within the first two years? And of the remaining 10-20%, another 80% fail in the following three years. So only the 2-4% of businesses that survive the first five years will most probably be successful! And that’s without the classic South African curve balls like ‘the shed’, paperwork nightmares, and all the rest that leaves us rated at only 88th in the world when it comes to the ease of doing business. So, if you didn’t know just how hard it is starting your own business, you might now. And yet there are countless South Africans, perhaps daunted, doing it anyway. And that’s something worth celebrating. That alone would be worth shouting from the rooftops! But there’s more… Okay so… At this point in the story, shopfox.co.za is flourishing. Our marketplace is bigger than we’d ever imagined. We’re working with top quality humans. We’re counting our blessings and marvelling at how much people are loving our brands. We’re a lil proud of all the marvelous products we have curated – each one carefully selected from small, local brands. But mostly, we’re proud of the people behind these brands (you would be too if you knew what they do)! So things are pretty darn good and then BOOM — plot twist — they get better! It’s safe to say that every Nigerian Prince who has contacted us over the years has worn down any semblance of excitement we might feel off the bat when you get an email titled: To: Shopfox — ‘H&M Partnership Meeting’ We were quite suspicious (another South African trait – we don’t raise them naive). But as it turns out, our fears were unfounded. This time ‘H&M’ was in fact the actual ‘H&M’ – not some scammy click bait. WOW. Personally, and at Shopfox, we are in the business of people. We’ve worked with a lot of them, and, as you’d imagine, we’ve encountered all sorts of ‘nice’ and ‘not nice’. So it’s not an overstatement when we say that the guys at H&M — they’re a whole other level of fantastic to work with. So… H&M was in search of collaborations with small, local brands who value sustainability and don’t mess around when it comes to quality. We listened with disbelief as they told us they’d done a lot of research into the market and they wanted to collaborate with Shopfox in their H&M Home stores. The debut was going to take place at H&M’s first standalone home store in South Africa. (FYI, launch has happened. We’re live in Sandton City.) We are so excited — partly because we could tell they were as passionate about South African brands as we were, but also because we knew our brands have pretty powerful stories to tell. And H&M wanted to do just that. Not only did they want to stock local products, but also to share the real essence of local small brands and their stories! That’s one of the things that set Shopfox brands apart from any others — the stories behind them. And those stories deserve sharing! Right from the start it was obvious that H&M wasn’t supporting local for, what the kids these days call, clout. They were genuinely invested in giving our small brands a meaningful platform. People were seeing what we saw, and dang was that thrilling! And not just ‘people’, but a huge international retailer. So what happens when big brands decide to support small brands? Glad you asked! To put it as simply as possible… big things happen for those small brands. One day, they’ve made a few sales and are trying to scale, and next thing they knew, they found themselves on the shelves of one of our favourite stores (and probably yours too, but I don’t want to be presumptuous). They found themselves backed by the big league, and all because 1) they’re creating flippen insane products and 2) H&M has chosen to invest in South African brands, South African communities, and South African stories. Well done H&M. Talking a big game is oh so easy, especially in the age of virtue signaling level 1000, but these guys put their money where their mouth is. They backed our dreamers and creators, recognising just how much they have to offer. They put our local brands in the big league – and we think that’s pretty flippin great. H&M is raising the bar for all major retailers in South Africa. And we’re cheering from the sideline! So who are these marvellous brands you can now shop at H&M Home? Well, let us tell you a little about each one… Agora is a local drinks company that focuses on innovative extractions of plant based ingredients to create limitless, delicious and healthy alternatives to traditional beverages. At the heart of Agora is the desire to create more sustainable beverage options for South Africans. Agora’s founders believed there must be beverage options that are healthier, sourced more ethically, packaged more sustainably and more accessible priced than what was currently on the local market. Amble Pantry was built on an unwavering love and appreciation for our magnificent country – the mountains, the oceans, the people, and most of all the food. Their Honey is sourced in the Cederberg Mountains, Rooibos Tea from the West Coast, Olive Oil from the Klein Karoo, and Dukkah made from an age-old recipe adapted to include locally sourced ingredients. Amble was started in rebellion of mass-produced food and fast-paced living that is neither sustainable to the customer or the environment. It represents a step in the right direction, a step towards mindful and sustainable food production and offers South Africans the option of buying local, ethically sourced pantry classics – a luxury not readily available in our local market. Artisanal Spice is a collective vision bringing handcrafted, ethically sourced and plant-based spice blends, sauces, dressings, and relishes to your home. They specialize in bringing their customer’s unique products and flavor combinations inspired by their family’s recipes, traditions and travels. Each unique pantry product pays homage to age-old traditions and family members who have never before had this kind of recognition. Cedar Coffee Roasters was created by award-winning South African baristas who are passionate about making premium, high quality coffee accessible to more South Africans. The Cedar founders developed an appreciation for fine coffee and have spent a combined 16 years in both roasting and brewing. Having worked for high quality, premium brands, where they enjoyed the best coffee money could buy, each time they stepped out the cafes, they were humbled by the reminder of the gap between that quality of coffee there and what a lot of our nation is drinking – instant coffee. Kleinbergskloof is an award winning, family run, boutique olive farm that produces sustainable olive products and breaks the traditional absence of women in agriculture. The women at Kleinbergskloof are making waves in the agricultural and business community. Luna & Clay’s pottery kits are for the amateur and aspiring ceramists brought to you by a local South African who is passionate about inspiring mindfulness through the practice of creating in adults and children alike. Ka Pa Tée is a female owned brand that was birthed from the desire to provide South Africans with organic, ethically sourced, sustainably grown and packaged tea. Stickit Designs was created by ex-schoolteachers who are passionate about DIY home décor and making decor items accessible to local South Africans. The brand started as a side hustle, printing and selling custom stickers. So, what do you think? Was that ‘blasting it from the rooftops’ kind of exciting? Because we think it is… and this is just the beginning. So what about the next big thing at Shopfox? What would you have us do in celebration of that? All suggestions welcome, but we suggest you start thinking now because it’s onwards and upwards from here. The Shopfox gals are only just getting started!