Startup Story

Bontle Tshole is a healthy eating and responsible food advocate, and the founder of Baaa Health & Luminary Thrivist in South Africa. She started her entrepreneurial journey early on in her life through the time she invested in assisting her mother in the family business at age nine. Over time she grew to love business and the endless opportunities it offered to her. It was during her tertiary studies that she began what was then called Baaa Smoothie Bar, now Baaa Health, in 2017 and has grown its reach and capacity since then. Baaa is a health bar that is changing the narrative of access to healthy eating by promoting responsible food choices through the provision of healthy quality food, addressing UN Sustainability Development Goal 3.

One of the biggest highlights for Baaa was being recognised by Unilever and Sunlight to be one of their female owned business brand ambassadors, as well as being part of the Forbes 30 under 30 2021 cohort, and being recognised as Mail and Guardians 200 Young South Africans 2021. With over 10 years combined experience in the industry, she gained various skills and performed numerous duties. Some of the courses that she completed include the Lean Methodology for start-ups, Colour Accounting, Business Grooming, Start-up Boot Camp, as well as the African Entrepreneurship programme. Bontle is committed to changing the lives of other young women in South Africa who come from historically disadvantaged backgrounds and have little or no access to resources, skills and opportunity. She does this through Luminary Thrivist, 2019, which is aimed at assisting young African women build sustainable empires through business development support and opportunities. Through this initiative, Bontle and Luminary Thrivist address UN Sustainability Development Goal 5. Everything she does, she does because she believes in changing the narrative of the world we live in.

LoA chatted to the impact driven Bontle Tshole about her entrepreneurial journey to date, and her goals for the future.

“We aim to provide greater access to healthy food around South Africa by making Baaa Health available in all 9 provinces.”

When did your start your business?

Baaa Health is a health bar that was founded in 2017 in South Africa out of a desire to offer consumers healthy and convenient meal options.

What does your company do?

Baaa is a healthy food and beverage production company that is on a mission to change the narrative of access to healthy quality food by partnering with small scale farmers to produce healthy delicious food and beverages. We help our clients balance their demanding fast paced lifestyles with healthy, delicious and convenient quick foods. We are currently available in selected Spars, Foodlovers Market, restaurants and cafes.

What inspired you to start your company?

I grew up in a home where healthy food was a priority, and as a result became a relatively healthy eater. Growing up in that environment made me aware of the great benefits of eating healthily. The South African fast food restaurant industry was riddled with a lack of access to quick healthy food which drew me to seek more sustainable ways to ensure that consumers had greater access to healthier food options.

“We aim to employ more young women from disadvantaged backgrounds, empower them and offer them opportunities to grow within the company and eventually thrive in their own path.”

Why should anyone use your service or product?

Baaa Health focuses on creating products that are familiar to the African pallet using traditional grains such as sorghum to produce our healthy food. Moreover, we believe in the power of community to build each other, and as such we work with small scale farmers to produce some of our products.

Tell us a little about your team

Baaa aims to empower young women and as a result we have a largely female staff complement. Enthusiasm, high work ethic and determination are some of the grounding values that we hold at Baaa. Whilst the team is still small, there is so much potential and we aim to become one of South Africa’s largest empowerment employers.

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

I obtained my BA Psychology degree from the University of Johannesburg in 2014 with distinctions in Social Psychology and Religion Studies. I went on to attain my BA Politics in 2016. During my time at the University of Johannesburg I was a member of the Black Management Forum student division and the Imbokodo Society. In addition to the organisations that I founded, Baaa Enterprises was created in 2014 which is a holding company for various companies including Baaa Health, Baaa Bakes, Bite Foods, The Hub Ko Diboxing, Bloompad and Luminary Leadership.

My entrepreneurial journey began early on through the time invested in assisting my mother in the family business. Over time I grew to love business and the endless opportunities it offered to me. I began Baaa Health in 2017 and have grown its reach and capacity since then. Baaa is a health bar that promotes responsible food choices through the provision of healthy quality food. Together, Baaa and myself are creating a disruptive model of serving healthy food by building a fast food restaurant system that is known for consistently providing healthy, delicious, quick food that rests on three values - consistency, value and quality. We currently have seven products in our range and aim to increase the offering in line with the South African lifestyle market. Taking pride in feeding bodies, feeding souls, loving yourself the whole time because you are allowed to love food and love eating while still taking care of yourself. It is through the work of Baaa and Bloompad that I speak on stages across Gauteng about health conscious consumerism, as well as changing consumer habits with regards to healthy eating. I have contributed to the advancement of knowledge and solutions around health conscious consumerism and the plight of the rise of non- communicable diseases.

With over 8 years combined experience in the industry I have gained various skills and performed numerous duties. Some of the courses that I have completed include the Lean Methodology for Start-ups, Colour Accounting, Business Grooming, Start-up Boot Camp, as well as the African Entrepreneurship programme. I am a motivated team player with excellent public speaking ability; and oral, written, and interpersonal communication. I am a life-long learner committed to staying on top of the best current and emerging business practices, especially in an international context. I am also an attentive listener who is not afraid to incorporate the opinions of valued team members into policy and planning.

“'Changing the narrative' serves as a guiding light in everything that I do, and as such I receive great satisfaction when I see the change that I am trying to foster in the world around me.”

What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?

We aim to provide greater access to healthy food around South Africa by making Baaa Health available in all 9 provinces. We aim to employ more young women from disadvantaged backgrounds, empower them and offer them opportunities to grow within the company and eventually thrive in their own path.

What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?

'Changing the narrative' serves as a guiding light in everything that I do, and as such I receive great satisfaction when I see the change that I am trying to foster in the world around me. Winning in my career is definitely very satisfying. However, seeing myself grow as an individual, looking back at how far I have come, brings a level of satisfaction and enthusiasm as to how much more I can achieve over the next 5, 10, 20 and even 50 years.

What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?

Have faith in yourself and don't look to others for validation. You are capable of more than that which your mind can conceive so take the leap into the possibilities that your dreams give you.

Contact or follow Baaa Health

Why LoA loves it…

If Africa’s citizens are to thrive, then changing the narrative of healthy eating and lifestyles by promoting responsible food choices and access to healthy, locally produced food is key. Bontle Tshole recognizes this fact and is building her business based on advocacy and action. She is an inspiration to those in her community, and also to women and girls who want to be the healthy eating change for their families and communities too. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa