Inside Biz | Bringing a Taste of Eswatini to the World

Nontobeko was inspired to start Pecko Sauces after identifying an opportunity to share her love for food with the world. Initially, she just wanted to share that love in the form of a condiment that would enhance people’s culinary experiences. She debuted her brand through stall activations at events as well as high-traffic locations such as The Gables in Ezulwini. As the business gained traction, she made efforts to establish distribution channels by experimenting with various outlets.

Pecko sauce proved itself to be an immediate hit among retailers- opening doors for Nontobeko to access broader avenues to market her brand and landing her on major stages: MTN Bushfire Festival and Standard Bank Luju Festival. This, alongside launching her website, is one of her greatest achievements. But her appearance on big stages did not end with Eswatini. Nontobeko is bringing a taste of Eswatini to the world, exhibiting at international stages. One such stage was the Kaohsiung Food Show in Taiwan in October 2023, facilitated by The Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA). Pecko Sauce received a raving review from the Kaohsiung City Mayor, Chen Chi-mai, which was documented in a reel by Allan and Wes Davies; well-renowned YouTube Vlogers – consequently highlighting Eswatini on a global scale.

Nontobeko attributes her success to remaining focused on her goals, prayer and community-building with people who believe in the brand. She has shown consistency over the years and continues to be strategic with her brand positioning and overall image.

However, the journey of being a woman entrepreneur has not been easy. Nontobeko shares how her greatest challenges include navigating access to resources, industry regulations, and platforms to access relevant information. She shares how, in her experience, the entrepreneurship terrain is characterized by complexity. Hence, she believes women need grit, confidence, and knowledge. She says having an idea is only the beginning of the journey, the real business is execution which comes with many hurdles.

She advises aspiring women entrepreneurs to be flexible in adjusting their focus as some ideas or strategies may not work. She encourages women to have confidence in their competency; and the ability to build successful businesses.

Indeed her recipe for success is showing its fruits as Nontobeko grows in strides. Over the past 3 years, Pecko Sauces has managed to diversify to include the curation of gourmet dishes made with the sauce. The transition also saw an extension to the range of products one can enjoy from Pecko Sauces. Nontobeko announced that Eswatini can look forward to something new and exciting from her: Pecko Eats; a culinary enterprise she is on the verge of launching. Nontobeko shares how important it is to her to remain relevant as a key focus in establishing sustained growth.

In the end, Nontobeko would love to be remembered as a trailblazer, a woman who positively impacted lives through her gifts, talents, and efforts – substantiated by remarkable work.

Quick Questions:

The best advice she has ever received: “Keep showing up.” As simple as three syllables but effective in yielding outcomes. It simply means keep going, of course, you need to make sure you’re headed in the right direction but all in all, it means “do the work and eventually it will yield success.”