Puleng Sekekete is so driven by her entrepreneurial spirit, that she opened two businesses in two years. A wine brand and a chocolate brand are just the start of Sekekete’s journey. Sekekete, who lives in Johannesburg, is the founder of Dinako Wines and is the co-founder of Dintle Chocolate.
She launched Dinako Wines in 2019 and it officially started trading the following year. Sekekete then partnered with Nyakallo Mokoena, who owns the trendy Mcofana coffee shop in Maboneng in Johannesburg’s CBD, to launch Dintle Chocolate earlier this year.
The chocolate comes in three flavours: milk chocolate, salted caramel and mcofana coffee. One chocolate costs R45. Dinako Wines manufactures sweet red, sweet rosé, dry red, dry white and sparkling wine. Each bottle is sold at R90 except for the sparkling wine, which costs R150 and the dry red, which is R95. “Nyakallo told me that he was looking for a chocolate brand that will go along with his coffee brand, and we decided to put our heads and resources together to start Dintle,” Sekekete said.
“Getting the finances together was also difficult because sourcing quality ingredients like cocoa for the chocolate is very expensive. Despite all of that we spent all the necessary money needed in order for us to have the kind of chocolate that we are known and loved for,” she said.
The businesswoman told Vutivi News that even though the brand was new, their products had been warmly received by chocolate lovers. “We courier our chocolate nationwide and can get over five chocolate orders in a day, and the number is growing,” she said. “We also supply a kiosk in Sasolburg, Free State.”
Sekekete said that her love of wine was what propelled her to start her wine brand. However, starting out was more difficult than she imagined. “It was difficult to find the type of winery that I wanted to produce my wine, but I eventually started working with a winery in the Western Cape which manufactures my wine,” she said.
“However, it became extremely difficult to operate, especially because of the constant alcohol bans on the industry, and we took a knock. “Thanks to the recent ban being lifted, we are now looking forward to supplying wine to our customers, many of whom have been waiting for the ban to be lifted in order to get wine,” Sekekete said.
She told Vutivi News that loved being an entrepreneur and the challenges that came with the turf. “I started being an entrepreneur a long time ago, and explored different ideas which didn’t work,” she said.
“I have always had the drive to change the lives of people I haven’t met, and throughout my journey as a businesswoman I have been able to do that.”
