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Five years ago Hentie van der Merwe and Frits van Ryneveld were excited for the launch of their new brand which they had long planned to happen on March 27, 2020.

Little did they realise the chaos that was about to ensue.

The brand was Swartland Kitchen, and the date coincided with the announcement of a countrywide lockdown due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Twelve months earlier, van der Merwe and van Ryneveld, founders and owners of Darling Sweet, manufacturers of South Africa’s best-loved toffees, soft caramels and – more recently – fudge had been approached by a woman in Darling who baked rusks and sold them to stores in the area. Wanting to retire, she approached the duo with an offer to purchase her business and, after doing their due diligence, the deal was done.

Van der Merwe fine-tuned the recipes, and they renamed the brand Swartland Kitchen, since the rusks were going to be baked at Evita se Perron, in Darling, in the heart of the Swartland.

Five years later and business is booming and Swartland Kitchen not only produces five different flavours of rusks but also a range of cookies as well as granola and fleur de sel (a highly sought after salt, used in high end kitchens due to its long-lasting flavour).

To tell us more about Swartland Kitchen, we sat down with van Ryneveld over a cup of coffee and – what else – a plate of rusks and asked him a few questions.

Happy 5th birthday! You launched the same day that the nationwide Covid lockdown was announced! What impact did that have and how did you get through it?

It was hectic! We are a small company with very tight financial means. We had planned to launch at the Kamers show at the Blaauwklippen Wine Farm near Stellenbosch in April 2020 and suddenly we were stuck with a garage full of rusks with a sell-by date. All shows and markets had been cancelled, and shops were limited with what they could get in to stock their shelves. So we pivoted to online platforms and were able to trade through those means because as a foodstuff it was seen as essential goods. Despite the restrictions, I would sneak to the factory in the mornings and start packing orders. It was quite a saving grace for me!

After purchasing the company, you worked on adjusting the recipe for the rusks. Who was responsible for that task?

Hentie took over the recipes from the woman we bought the company from and tweaked them with regards to taste, sweetness, texture and shelf-life, as well as streamlining the recipes for larger batch sizes. I was happy to be appointed the ‘taster!’

Tell us about the ingredients used.

We are committed to baking traditional products using old fashioned ingredients; stoneground flour, sourced from local farmers growing crops in an environmentally conscious way, as well as butter, buttermilk, free-range eggs, oats, sunflower seeds, sultanas, linseeds, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds and of course ingredients specific to the different flavours. But all ‘clean’ ingredients which make the products so unique and oh-so-tasty!

How many rusk flavours are there?

We launched with five rusk flavours and with the recent relaunch of our packaging we changed one flavour. The flavours are Buttermilk, Almond & Orange, Breakfast, Breakfast (Made with No Sugar) and our newest flavour, Sunflower & Sesame.

What is the most popular flavour?

The Buttermilk rusks of course! Our fans just love them as does Tannie Evita Bezuidenhout!

Are they Kosher and Halaal?

Yes – the full range is Kosher and Halaal.

Tell us about the new packaging.

Initially we designed the packaging to function as a gift, therefore the fancy box-sleeve - something one would buy for a friend or loved one for a special occasion, along with a bunch of flowers, say. We have since decided to change that as we realized South Africans don’t consider rusks a gift in the same way they would buy a box of Darling Sweet toffees for a friend when they go for dinner, or for their mother on Mother’s Day, and so the new rusks packaging reflect this, using a sticker, rather than the box, which makes for a more cost-effective product, fit for everyday consumption.

Why do you think South Africans love rusks so much given that they are not such a big deal in other countries?

Rusks are a feel-good experience, which is why it is a staple product in many homes. They can be enjoyed with a cup of tea, a mug of coffee or a hot chocolate as a starter for the day, mid-morning or mid-afternoon as a taking-a-break option or even as a late night snack.

Tell us more about the rusk-tasting experience that visitors to Evita se Perron in Darling can enjoy.

Our rusk-tasting is a world first experience, customers have a choice of a hot drink (tea, coffee or cappuccino), three rusk flavours and two cookie flavours, all for R60 per tasting. This can be enjoyed in our theatre, garden and in Boerassic Park.

What other products do you sell under the Swartland Kitchen brand?

We also make and sell boxes of fabulously more-ish Vla Koekies (Custard Cookies), Soet Koekies (Sugar Cookies) and Ginger Biscuits and 750g bags of a deliciously healthy breakfast Granola.

Where can people buy the Swartland Kitchen range?

Our online store at www.darlingsweet.co.za as well as from independent stores like padstalle, the bigger pharmacies and coffee shops.