- When Gilly Walters failed in her first attempt to make “Mozart's favorite dessert” for party guests at her home, she did not give up.
- After countless hours of perfecting the recipe, cutting it by hand and introducing it to the local market, the first version of Wedgwood Nougat was born in 1999.
- Today, Wedgwood is listed in all major retailers, employs 180 people, and has seven emporiums across the country. And it all started by never giving up.
- This is our first story in News24's new weekly series SA Success Stories, which details the original stories of successful SA businesses, NGOs and individuals.
- Our special site can be found here SA Success StoriesProudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth.
Gilly Walters was about to host a music party at her family home in Hawick in 1999, and she needed to make some goodies to feed her guests.
She decided to make “Mozart's Favorite Dessert” – which, of course, was not Mozart's favorite – but she wanted to impress the attending musos with a sticky dessert based on that ancient sweet delight, nougat.
It would be as much of a hit as any in Mozart's catalogue, and the assembled visitors would be fully satiated and well fed.
“The dessert was a complete failure,” laughs Paul Walters, Gilly’s son and CEO of Wedgwood Holdings.
“The nougat ran off the plate, had to be frozen before it could be cut… Anyway, she's what we call a tenacious old bat. We love our mom and she's a passionate cook, so when she had this failure, she decided she'd fix it.”
Six months later, after countless hours perfecting their recipe while husband Taffy cut the confection by hand in the family garage, they were ready to start selling their nougat at the local farmers' market.
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“It was at a farmers' market in 1999 where people first had the opportunity to buy nougat. It grew by word of mouth and began to be sold at local stores.”
And thus was born the first iteration of Wedgwood, named after the family farm.
aroma of family kitchen
Today, Wedgwood products are listed in all major retailers and has seven emporiums across the country, including two recent openings at the V&A Waterfront in Pretoria and Hazelwood.
It employs 180 people, and still cracks 70,000 eggs by hand per month.
But at its core, Walters says, it's still a simple business started in a family kitchen that has simply grown organically over the past two decades.
And for her, those early memories were about scents.
“Those were interesting days. The kitchen in our family was always the heart of the family. So it was always work, making nougat, and then work would stop. Then we would have breakfast, and my mother would continue making nougat, and then we would have lunch.
“Just the smell of nougat cooking is delicious, that warm honey and whipped egg whites…”
Gilly Walters' nougat recipe went from being served to guests in her home to being sold at farmers markets and now being listed at national retailers.
The Wedgwood story began in the family home kitchen in the KZN Midlands.
Gilly Walters' nougat recipe went from being served to guests in her home to being sold at farmers markets and now being listed at national retailers.
Word of mouth and listings in local stores ensured that the operation would grow in volume, forcing poor father Taffy to fight a losing battle.
“Dad fought a valiant battle to keep Mom out of his workshop, but he didn't win. It spilled out of the kitchen into the garage, and you'd see Dad cutting nougat by hand late into the night. He did that for the first two years until my brother came in and started automating it around 2002.”
slow, steady growth
As for Wedgwood, her journey has been less whirlwind and more consistent, steady growth with an emphasis on building her brand. Profits are invested back into the business, and, in most years, growth will be steady.
“There was never an axis,” says Walters.
It was a family business started out of necessity, and encouraged by our community and nurtured by the South African business environment that loves entrepreneurs and small startups.
“We haven't done much apart from my mother, who has created some amazing dishes. South African people are positive people and they are very encouraging. If you try to start a business somewhere else, nine out of 10 people will tell you not to do it. If you try and start one here, 11 out of 10 people will tell you to do it.
“It grew very slowly. Our organic growth has been about 10 to 20%, not every year, but most years.”
In 2006, the team moved out of the garage and workshop and purchased a farm close to their original home. It was an old dairy and still hosts the Wedgwood factory.
“Our dream was to go out and see kids running around barefoot and have the business be the heart of the family.”
It was here that they started exporting and receiving assistance from government departments.
“The Department of Trade and Industry has long supported small businesses, and they started supporting us at South African trade shows abroad, maybe once or twice a year. That really helped us get exposure to international trends and customers.”
Emporium, eye on ice cream and gifting
Today, Wedgwood has seven emporiums and a brand based on beautiful gifts themed around flowers, honey and bees – but it wasn't always that way.
“That's it, my wife,” Walters laughs. “He's trained to be a fine artist, and he said to me, 'We really need to improve the brand.'
“We were very much a home-grown farm-stall brand. We made our own little wooden boxes. It felt just like home and we felt like it was our brand.”
His initial designs around 2010 doubled sales of the team's gift boxes, and the rest is history.
Wedgwood now has seven emporiums across the country that also offer gift wrapping and specialty nougat ice cream.
Wedgwood now has seven emporiums across the country that also offer gift wrapping and specialty nougat ice cream.
Wedgwood now has seven emporiums across the country that also offer gift wrapping and specialty nougat ice cream.
Wedgwood now has seven emporiums across the country that also offer gift wrapping and specialty nougat ice cream.
Wedgwood now has seven emporiums across the country that also offer gift wrapping and specialty nougat ice cream.
Wedgwood now has seven emporiums across the country that also offer gift wrapping and specialty nougat ice cream.
At the emporium, they now also sell a unique nougat ice cream, developed by an ice cream maker friend named Jen, who created the recipe during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“It's a very South African shop. Every single thing there is made in SA. Even the wallpapers are painted by my wife, or my son, or a friend, and turned into gift boxes as well.
“We opened our first emporium in the KZN Midlands Piggly Wiggly, and it brought us closer to the customers. And we realized that our business was not about selling sweets. It was about giving them a moment of happiness, nothing more, nothing less.”
An ancient dessert with a SA twist
The French would say that the classic version of nougat has its roots in the city of Montélimar. Italians would argue that the confectionery cities of Torrone and Cremona hold respect. The Greeks would probably shout mandolato to claim the prize, while Iranians also have a Middle Eastern delight called gaz.
This is such a quick dessert to prepare. It's centuries old, and this is where my mother's fascination with it came from.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s several South African women, including Coach House and Sally Williams, took the lead in producing a local version of nougat.
“They were three strong brands, and what came out of it was a South African lean on Montélimar nougat. Interestingly, our nougat is not as sweet as European nougat, and our mother liked that.
“Her love was probably inspired by all these South African women, and they were all women who started businesses out of their kitchens.”
SA is a great place for a lean startup
Wedgwood is now one of the leaders in his local area, and will continue to stay close to his roots as his North Star.
For Walters, looking back on all those years, two things stand out.
I love our humble beginnings. It has not been a stormy journey. Its growth has been consistently slow. And it's the South African story that really resonates with me. We are passionate about this place and its people. You can do anything here and everyone supports you.
Giving a final message to South Africans chasing their own business dreams, Walters said: “If you have an idea, act on it. Act on it.”
“Get some good mentors around you. There's no better place than South Africa to start a small startup business. Ask your customers what they want and focus on the brand and let them help you grow it.”
*This is our first story in News24's new weekly series SA Success Stories Featuring original stories of successful SA names, businesses, individuals and NGOs, proudly sponsored by Old Mutual Wealth.