3 women-led businesses to run coffee kiosks in Mr Price stores

Mr Price Foundation recently announced the entrepreneurs selected for its inaugural Foundation Coffee Incubator cohort. From 3 August 2026, Matshidiso Mack, Noxolo Molefe and Zandile Tibane will run coffee kiosks in Mr Price Home stores in Cape Town, Durban and Mbombela.
5 Aug 2026
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Image credit: Fahmi Fakhrudin on Unsplash

The practical entrepreneurship programme places participants directly inside the Mr Price Group retail ecosystem.

Selected through a competitive national application process, each entrepreneur will take charge of a working cafe kiosk located inside a Mr Price Home store, managing daily operations, serving real customers, and running a business from the first day they unlock the counter.

Adventure of a lifetime

Matshidiso Mack, will run the kiosk at Mr Price Home Diep River in Cape Town, Noxolo Molefe will take on Mr Price Home Hillcrest in Durban, and Zandile Tibane will run Mr Price Home Nelspruit Crossing in Mbombela, with each entrepreneur responsible for the full scope of running her business, including customer service, daily operations, stock management, and basic financial administration, all while earning an income directly tied to her output.

“We are excited about the journey Matshidiso, Noxolo and Zandile are about to undertake,” says Duduzile Mathabela, entrepreneurship development programme manager at the Mr Price Foundation.

“Bonafide Research projects that South Africa’s coffee market will grow by more than 7% annually between 2024 and 2029. We want emerging entrepreneurs to be positioned to participate in that growth.

“Through the Foundation Coffee Incubator, our aim is to build a pipeline of entrepreneurs who understand the coffee business, have experience serving real customers and can turn the growth of South Africa’s coffee economy into sustainable businesses and livelihoods.”

The incubator combines mentorship and business skills development with the practical experience of running a working kiosk. Participants learn through trade rather than classroom-based training alone.

Meet the businesswomen

The three women enter the incubator with different professional backgrounds, but each has already begun building her own business.

In Cape Town, Mack is a complaints specialist and the founder of Bosire Brew Coffee Specialists, a coffee training and consulting business, as well as garment care service LaundryMack.

She joined the incubator to deepen her industry knowledge, strengthen her entrepreneurial skills and connect with other coffee professionals.

Durban-based Molefe is an agricultural advisor and the owner of mobile coffee business Koffee Lam.

For her, the opportunity is a chance to explore her passion and grow her understanding of the business behind the cup.

Tibane, an HR consultant from Mbombela, also runs a mobile bar business.

She sees the incubator’s mentorship, training and operational support as an opportunity to develop a more sustainable business model.

Supporting women-led businesses

Their journeys reflect a wider national picture.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor research shows that 66% of South African women believe they can start a business. Yet only 38% of the country’s small and medium enterprises are women-owned and led.

Access to finance remains one of the most frequently cited barriers.

For the 45.6% of South Africans aged 15 to 34 who are not in employment, education or training, entrepreneurship support must extend beyond generic workshops.

The Foundation Coffee Incubator responds by providing participants with the infrastructure, customers, and lived commercial experience needed to turn entrepreneurial ambition into a functioning business.

“What emerging entrepreneurs consistently lack is access to real customers, a quality product and the commercial infrastructure to grow a business.

“These women are not entering a simulation; they are trading inside one of the country’s most recognisable retail environments.

“Our role is to provide the mentorship and operational support that can help turn that opportunity into something sustainable,” concludes Mathabela.


 
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