New deal raises hope for Kauai to create black entrepreneurs

Cape Town - Kleoss Capital Fund 1 has acquired a minority stake in Real Foods, raising hopes of introducing black controlled franchise stores within Kauai.

Real Foods, which aims to be the leader in shaping the South African natural food industry, is the owners of the KAUAI, NÜ Health Café and Kohu brands.

Kleoss Capital Fund 1 is managed by Kleoss Capital, a 100% black-owned South African private equity investment manager.

“In talking to Kleoss Capital, we realised that we had a partner that shared the values of transparency, authenticity and an entrepreneurial approach to our business that makes Real Foods such a strong leader in the health and wellness marketplace,” said Real Foods founder Dean Kowarski.

He said Kleoss also provides another valuable resource in that they proactively engage with their investments and businesses at a board and strategy level.
"So they add a wealth of expertise to our company that will be important to our planned expansion.”

Real Foods acquired of Kauai in 2015 and positioned it to focus on tasty, healthy and natural food, with an emphasis on nutrition and responsible sourcing.
The group also attracted partners in the health & wellness space such as Virgin Active and Discovery Vitality’s Active Rewards Programme.

The team at Real Foods has achieved an incredible amount in a very short time, Kleoss Capital CEO Hale Matsipa said. "This has been a major factor in our decision to invest.”

He said natural food and wellness is a unique subsector that targets an economically resilient and growing portion of the population.

“We are also excited about BEE transformation within Real Foods," Matsipa said, adding that there is potential to introduce black controlled franchise stores within Kauai.

"This would be our modest contribution within Real Foods to creating black entrepreneurs through a franchise model, particularly amongst the youth. We have found Real Foods very receptive to our ideas around BEE transformation.”

Globally, the natural food and health and wellness markets have grown exponentially over the past few years. A recent Fortune500 ranking report showed a clear consumer movement towards healthier food options, with most traditional commercial fast food retailers showing declines in the ranking.