Tamworth online South African grocery store launches, gaining fans from across community

Online store African TLC began selling a range of South African snacks, treats and spices nearly two weeks ago, and already has grand plans to expand its range of stock.

Co-founders Leona Erasmus and Tracy Guest said the business already has a loyal customer base, which is quickly growing and is made up of people from different backgrounds.

"We've been inundated by orders from South Africans in the area and everyone is so excited about it, and we've had heaps of enquiries from Australians about what our products are," Ms Guest said.

"Hopefully once our website is up and running we'll give descriptions with more detail."

Both women have moved to Australia within the past decade and love the country, but said their personal experience of yearning for the food of their homeland led them to believe there was demand out there for the products.

"Tracy approached my husband [Charles] and I one day and said 'let's try and bridge this gap', because obviously if we miss our products there must be other South Africans in the area that also miss it," Ms Erasmus said.

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"So we thought let's try and make it more accessible to everybody, and in saying that also we saw the bigger picture with Australia being such a multicultural country, sharing cultures is a big thing.

"Our culture is something that we want to share and each and every one one of our products have a story behind it, and we want to share those stories."

The most popular items so far have, by quite a distance, been South African spices, according to the co-founders.

The likes of barbecue salt and braii salt have been in high demand, while treats such as rusks and Sparletta creme soda are also being snapped up quickly.

One product not yet available - but the duo are working on getting made - is boerewors, a type of South African sausage, which Ms Erasmus said has been a hit with her neighbours at barbecues. African TLC is in the process of finding a local butcher to make them.

The business is currently operating on Facebook, with customers able to message their orders through.

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