Impact Partner Content - Absa
Charlene Shapiro is the founder and Managing Member of CNC Products in South Africa. She is an all-rounder entrepreneur and has 29 years’ business experience working in the hospitality industry. Charlene's business is focused on providing high quality service and affordable food products to the hospitality industry, corporates and home users at large. Her experience in sales and marketing come from her years spent in the newspaper industry. She is proudly continuing a family legacy of service and is proud to have her daughter, Kerry, continuing with the same passion at CNC Products.
CNC Products is one of the 117 businesses from across South Africa currently being showcased at the Absa Lionesses Xpo. Founder Charlene Shapiro shares her almost 30 year strong entrepreneurial journey and her vision for where the business will go in the future, continuing her family legacy.
What does your company do?
We provide affordable, wholesale, quality food and snack products to the hospitality industry, including an online shop for home users. Over the years our client base has grown to include corporates, shipping chandlers, and a huge online presence especially for food market industries and home users. The business began with selling salmon trout and selected cheeses in 1991, and soon after included nuts, dried fruit, seeds, and sweets. In the latter years the range expanded to include baking chocolate, baking and pantry items, and a growing superfood vegan range of products. We listen to the needs of our customers and aim to be able to supply them with what they want. We package in bulk and in smaller quantities as per customer requirements.
What inspired you to start your company?
My parents loved to eat out and they were very loyal to a few restaurants and, as was their nature, became very friendly with these restauranteurs. My father spent about a year sourcing food products for them as a hobby. Although a trained radiographer, due to wanting to have flexible working hours with our young family, I moved for ten years to a roofing company that allowed me much needed flexibility. Sadly, they had to close, so my father insisted I join him as his hobby was getting too busy!!
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Our business started together, working with my Dad and getting to know customers and suppliers on a personal level and many that we still have business relationships with, 29 years later. An old customer recently shared the most beautiful accolade. She said, "Charlene, you still remain one of the best suppliers ever, with your passion and call to action to look after your customers...it is very rare". That is what drives me, knowing my parents must be so proud. What drives me further is the incredible passion our daughter Kerry has for this family business - she is carrying the flag high (together with our dedicated CNC Team). Kerry is also the proud founder of our CSI initiative, Souper Troopers, a registered NPO and PBO, helping to restore dignity, love and respect to the homeless community. Giving back is a huge part of what drives us. My other daughter and her family in London, carry the flag of CNC Products and Souper Troopers as well. When your 10 year old granddaughter in the UK is doing projects to get funding for Souper Troopers, then you can only feel proud.
Tell us a little about your team
Our team consists of very dedicated people. In the 29 years, we have had staff employed with us for over 20 years, and several for longer than 10 years. We are currently a smaller team due to lockdown. We have a powerful team consisting of our operations manager, dispatch and production manager, business development manager, sales reps, packing stock and controls team, CSI manager and supportive consultants for accounting, bookkeeping and HR. We thrive on everyone’s strength, working together to fulfill our extra mile service to our customers.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I come from a very entrepreneurial background, starting with my grandparents, to my beloved parents who owned three butcher shops in Paarl. Years later when we moved out of Paarl, my parents owned a small hotel in Muizenberg. They worked with their hearts and souls in all their businesses, looking after their staff that remained our friends long after the businesses got sold and my parents retired. I learnt from their ethos and the relationships they nurtured with their customers and suppliers. My father never stopped wanting to source products for someone he liked - so true story - he had made friends with a very good chef Gerard, at the Winchester, before 1991 and Gerard wanted some trout so my Dad took himself for a drive to Franschhoek and found Three Streams, whose products we continue to distribute in 2020. It came naturally to me from what I had observed my grandparents and parents doing in their businesses, to source quality products and supply the chefs we had started building relationships with. My newspaper advertising career in sales, helped me on the sales front.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
I would love to be able to supply our products to a wider range of customers, sourcing and adding more products to our basket that our customers want. I would love to be able to supply customers overseas. We would be grateful to continue being the choice of top chefs and a preferred supplier to home users. We would also like to be able to be more environmentally friendly.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
I thrive on hearing feedback from so many of our old and new customers saying how we go the extra mile and walk the talk. Quality is of prime importance to us and we thrive on being consistent with this and known for our quality and service. We have our customers' best interests at heart, to look after them professionally. I am grateful that we have successfully been able to employ so many people over the years and have helped many families, contributing to keeping their families looked after, building homes and dreams.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
I would say, although overwhelming at times, start from the very beginning with keeping track of all your expenses and income. Make sure you have a competent bookkeeper and have discussions about where you are heading, every quarter at least. Notice where mistakes may be happening with your costings (a very common mistake); notice where you can cut expenses; use consultants for what you are not skilled in nor know the laws about - you may be employing more staff than you need, or not quite the right skilled staff for what is required. Know what is happening in your business and allow yourself to be able to concentrate on what you do best. My strengths are sourcing products and strengthening relationships with customers and suppliers.
Contact Charlene via email or visit the company website and social media platforms:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | EMAIL charlene@cncproducts.co.za
