• Edward Harusi from Limpopo launched a sweet potato yoghurt business in 2016 after years of unemployment following his marketing qualification
  • Edward Harusi from Limpopo launched a sweet potato yoghurt business in 2016 after years of unemployment following his marketing qualification
  • The young entrepreneur revealed he receives daily inquiries from Nigeria, Uganda, Canada and other countries eager to stock his product

Edward Harusi, a young entrepreneur from Limpopo, built a business out of a simple kitchen experiment, turning sweet potatoes into a bottled yoghurt drink that is now attracting interest from buyers across three continents.

Harusi launched Harose Harose in 2016, after years of curiosity about whether sweet potatoes could be fermented into yoghurt. His first experiments took place in his mother's kitchen, and what started as an unconventional idea eventually became a small-scale factory operation in Polokwane, where sweet potatoes are cleaned, processed, mixed, bottled and packaged into what he describes as a nutritious and entirely new product.

From Unemployment to Agro-Processing

The road to that factory was far from straightforward. After completing a marketing management qualification in 2011, Harusi spent four years unable to find work. Rather than giving up, he began attending business conferences, which sharpened his entrepreneurial thinking and set him on a path towards self-employment.

Speaking in an [SABC News segment filmed at his Polokwane facility](https://www.facebook.com/reel/1064091713223256), Harusi said the compliance demands of the food processing industry alone required enormous dedication. "There is a lot of compliance issues in agro-processing. Number one, the product must be lab tested. You need trans-secretary laboratories. You need the likes of the complying facilities. You must get R638. You are going to learn about the HASAM, the SABS," he explained, adding, "It's a lot of work. And definitely you will learn each and every day about this."

International Calls Keep Coming

Despite operating in select local markets, Harusi said the volume of international enquiries for his product has been steady and growing. "Each and every day I receive calls from international countries, I receive calls from the likes of Nigeria, Uganda, Canada and so forth," he said.

He attributed the global curiosity to the product's novelty and perceived health benefits, noting that buyers abroad find the concept of yoghurt made from sweet potatoes both surprising and appealing.

His expansion plan is tied to production capacity. Harusi said that once his facility reaches output of over 14,000 units daily, he intends to first achieve full national distribution across South Africa before tapping into export markets. He indicated that milestone could realistically be reached within the next year.