[This article was written by Fran Siebrits and published in Simply Green Magazine in the March/April issue]
You know Woolies exceptionally well, right? But have you heard of Isikhwama? Isi-what?, you may ask. Well, hold onto your groceries, because we’re thrilled to be letting this home-spun cat out the bag.
Comforting voices sing in unison over the energised purr of machines. The vibrant sounds resonate in what’s a perfectly apt environment: orange, purple, green and blue squares of fabric are stacked in heaps next to each worker’s station in the factory. The sun hops through high windows from one material stack to another while deft fingers cut, sew, label, sort and pack.
Outside Cape Town, between Century City and Joe Slovo informal settlement, almost 100 employees gather in a small warehouse to earn their bread-and-butter. Bright colourful materials are intricately cut and sewn together with cotton that’s equally eye-catching.
Isikhwama is a Woolworths sustainability initiative, which supplies Woolies with their reusable shopping bags. Not only do these bags create employment for surrounding community members, they create a sustainable approach to shopping for Woolies customers.
Reusable Woolies bags are not only funky but pretty nifty too: they hold a weight of groceries that would otherwise tear the average plastic bag, while you get to save money on purchasing plastic and demonstrate your eco-friendly commitment in the long run.
“We [Woolworths] were the first retailer in South Africa to market these,” remembers Ralph Jewson, sourcing specialist for Woolworths. “The idea grew from a need to create a product that is sustainable to the consumer.”
The in-store aim is to reduce plastic bags and increase reusable ones. Ralph explains that sustaining resources is about setting an example, raising awareness, and supporting development. “We benchmark ourselves on an international standard,” he says proudly.
And rightly so – through their broader Good Business Journey and recent Isikhwama initiative, Woolworths supports local South African businesses. “The initiative is not about marketing or making a profit; it is about communication,” explains Ralph.
And what about the designs on the bags? Woolies has been collaborating with WWF to produce reusable shopping bags with unique designs and signature handwriting for endeavours involving South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) and the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI). A range of reusable bags are now available, each with a specific message and cause. Fishing for the Future, Farming for the Future, and the latest cause-related rhino bags all aim to raise awareness. Isikhwama play an important role in the production of these environmentally conscious messages.
Considering the humble and informal beginning of four people working in a garage producing 200 bags a week, Isikhwama’s present production of 6 000 bags per day is something worth mentioning. “We sold 40 000 units in one month,” Ralph boasts of the sustainable fishing bags, saying that the first hit Woolies stores in 2009.
Jasmeen Juries and Magriet Leeuwschut were two of the first employees. They climbed up the ranks and today are not only production supervisors but they each own 25% of the company.
Ingrid Matthews is an employee from Kuilsrivier. “Ek geniet my werk,” she says with enthusiasm, talking in between her sewing. She uses one of the 20 second-hand machines. Like Ingrid, the initiative has helped many people who would otherwise be jobless, especially since many of the clothing factories in the area closed down.
“It takes 6 minutes to make one bag,” explains Alton Thompson, mentor, visionary and one of four Isikhwama partners. Material is first cut then taken “to the floor”: the production line of work stations. Each person has a specific job - sewing squares together, hemming, making handles, attaching handles, sewing labels, neatening up, packaging – until finally the boxes are neatly stacked. The electrifying ambivalence of joy and apprehension, a feeling that’s probably all too common amongst those who have secured a worthwhile job in difficult times, is almost palpable in the teetering towers that wait at the door for their date with the delivery truck.
“Before the initiative, we used to import our bags,” says Alton. But Isikhwama gives the well-known slogan of being proudly South African emphasis. All the material is sourced within the country. As a result, the product is 100% South African, from the raw material to the manufacturing of the product to the retailing thereof.
“The Isikhwama initiative is about taking a product and trying to make a sustainable difference,” explains Ralph. Woolies supports Isikhwama cash flow by procuring fabric (polypropylene), assisting with the purchase and upgrade of equipment on a loan basis, and offering preferential payment terms. All the production skills are learnt through on-the-job training.
So there is a bit more to those pretty-looking Woolies shopping bags than one would think! Sustainable job creation, reusable products that raise environmental awareness… add a pinch of enterprise development and, voila, you have yourself one of the best hand-made, brightly coloured, reusable shopping bag.
You know Woolies exceptionally well, right? But have you heard of Isikhwama? Isi-what?, you may ask. Well, hold onto your groceries, because we’re thrilled to be letting this home-spun cat out the bag.
Comforting voices sing in unison over the energised purr of machines. The vibrant sounds resonate in what’s a perfectly apt environment: orange, purple, green and blue squares of fabric are stacked in heaps next to each worker’s station in the factory. The sun hops through high windows from one material stack to another while deft fingers cut, sew, label, sort and pack.
Outside Cape Town, between Century City and Joe Slovo informal settlement, almost 100 employees gather in a small warehouse to earn their bread-and-butter. Bright colourful materials are intricately cut and sewn together with cotton that’s equally eye-catching.
Isikhwama is a Woolworths sustainability initiative, which supplies Woolies with their reusable shopping bags. Not only do these bags create employment for surrounding community members, they create a sustainable approach to shopping for Woolies customers.
Reusable Woolies bags are not only funky but pretty nifty too: they hold a weight of groceries that would otherwise tear the average plastic bag, while you get to save money on purchasing plastic and demonstrate your eco-friendly commitment in the long run.
“We [Woolworths] were the first retailer in South Africa to market these,” remembers Ralph Jewson, sourcing specialist for Woolworths. “The idea grew from a need to create a product that is sustainable to the consumer.”
The in-store aim is to reduce plastic bags and increase reusable ones. Ralph explains that sustaining resources is about setting an example, raising awareness, and supporting development. “We benchmark ourselves on an international standard,” he says proudly.
And rightly so – through their broader Good Business Journey and recent Isikhwama initiative, Woolworths supports local South African businesses. “The initiative is not about marketing or making a profit; it is about communication,” explains Ralph.
And what about the designs on the bags? Woolies has been collaborating with WWF to produce reusable shopping bags with unique designs and signature handwriting for endeavours involving South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) and the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI). A range of reusable bags are now available, each with a specific message and cause. Fishing for the Future, Farming for the Future, and the latest cause-related rhino bags all aim to raise awareness. Isikhwama play an important role in the production of these environmentally conscious messages.
Considering the humble and informal beginning of four people working in a garage producing 200 bags a week, Isikhwama’s present production of 6 000 bags per day is something worth mentioning. “We sold 40 000 units in one month,” Ralph boasts of the sustainable fishing bags, saying that the first hit Woolies stores in 2009.
Jasmeen Juries and Magriet Leeuwschut were two of the first employees. They climbed up the ranks and today are not only production supervisors but they each own 25% of the company.
Ingrid Matthews is an employee from Kuilsrivier. “Ek geniet my werk,” she says with enthusiasm, talking in between her sewing. She uses one of the 20 second-hand machines. Like Ingrid, the initiative has helped many people who would otherwise be jobless, especially since many of the clothing factories in the area closed down.
“It takes 6 minutes to make one bag,” explains Alton Thompson, mentor, visionary and one of four Isikhwama partners. Material is first cut then taken “to the floor”: the production line of work stations. Each person has a specific job - sewing squares together, hemming, making handles, attaching handles, sewing labels, neatening up, packaging – until finally the boxes are neatly stacked. The electrifying ambivalence of joy and apprehension, a feeling that’s probably all too common amongst those who have secured a worthwhile job in difficult times, is almost palpable in the teetering towers that wait at the door for their date with the delivery truck.
“Before the initiative, we used to import our bags,” says Alton. But Isikhwama gives the well-known slogan of being proudly South African emphasis. All the material is sourced within the country. As a result, the product is 100% South African, from the raw material to the manufacturing of the product to the retailing thereof.
“The Isikhwama initiative is about taking a product and trying to make a sustainable difference,” explains Ralph. Woolies supports Isikhwama cash flow by procuring fabric (polypropylene), assisting with the purchase and upgrade of equipment on a loan basis, and offering preferential payment terms. All the production skills are learnt through on-the-job training.
So there is a bit more to those pretty-looking Woolies shopping bags than one would think! Sustainable job creation, reusable products that raise environmental awareness… add a pinch of enterprise development and, voila, you have yourself one of the best hand-made, brightly coloured, reusable shopping bag.
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