Tucked away in the corner of The Market at Ballito Lifestyle Centre is a beautiful space filled with local, organic, farm-to-fork fresh produce and carefully vetted pantry staples.
Owned by passionate health foodie Dawn de Beer, Home Grown is the go-to grocer for North Coasters who are serious about consuming sustainable, ethical, healthy food.
From seasonal fresh produce and hormone-free milk and meat to free-range eggs, artisan cheeses, yogurts, gluten-free bread, mayonnaise, kefir, and superfoods, Dawn handpicks every item that graces the fridges and shelves of this beautiful store.
Seven years ago, the Ballito mother of two boldly expanded her relatively small veggie box business into full retail, becoming one of the anchor tenants at The Market.
“It was incredibly daunting at first,” she laughs. “I woke up at 2am on our opening day and thought, ‘What have I done?’ But then we opened and, thanks to hard work and the incredible support from Bruce Rencken, local farmers, and the community, our huge leap of faith paid off.”
Originally from Vryheid, Dawn met her husband Jeremy when she was 19 and the couple spent 10 years traveling and living abroad before deciding to settle and start a family in his hometown on the North Coast. Their first child, Jemma, was born in 2008. “I was slightly older, and valued being a stay-at-home mom with my daughter, who I was besotted with.” Then Dawn had an ‘epiphany’ that would change her life forever.
“I realised that everything she ate was my responsibility. I adored this child completely and had extra time on my hands, so I started researching. I read all the literature I could and was determined to feed her only what was nutritionally good for her.”
Having always been interested in food and healthy eating, Dawn remembered the organic vegetable boxes she had delivered to her home while living and working in London. She went on a fact-finding mission to see where she could get fresh, organic food for her family.
“I realised that the best way to get the most nutrition from your food is to get it directly from the farm on the day that it is picked. So Jemma and I started making weekly trips to farms in the Midlands to buy our food.”
When other local moms heard what Dawn was doing, and she shared her thoughts and views on organic and ethical eating, they asked her to bring them supplies from the farms as well.
“I started selling organic vegetables at a small monthly market and ordering, collecting, and delivering vegetable boxes weekly.”
And so Dawn’s business, Simply Organic, was born. “We ran it like that for a long time, but it got too big. We were delivering over 200 boxes weekly – and my garage became a giant cold room!”
When she fell pregnant with her son, Cody, Dawn closed the business completely. “I started again when he was about two years old, and we moved the business out of our garage and into a small space at Burnedale in Umhlali. We also changed the name to Home Grown.”
As the North Coast grew and evolved, so did Home Grown, which eventually moved to the Litchi Orchard. “I loved our time there. It felt like real ‘farm living’.”
Dawn was apprehensive when Bruce first approached her as she had no retail experience. “He was incredibly kind and supportive though and convinced me to go for it. The Market is such a wonderful, unique concept and I knew this was a wonderful opportunity.”
Since then, Home Grown has become an intrinsic part of The Market’s offering. “I wanted to stock fresh organic vegetables picked that day, so I worked closely with a handful of local micro-farmers. We increased our retail to include various pantry and ‘free-from’ products. I am very fussy about what I put in my store. Everything must be one hundred percent natural, preservative, and additive-free.”
While Dawn doesn’t advocate specific diet regimes, she aims to support her clients by supplying them with the best possible ingredients and prides herself on her farm-to-fork offering.
“I love being able to offer real, freshly picked organic food that is perfectly in season and still in its whole form. We strive for package free but there is a small pre-packed range in biodegradable packaging for busy moms. We all want to give our families the best nutritionally dense food but knowing where to start can be overwhelming. My advice is to start with the basics and make small, consistent changes that will eventually stack into long-term habits. Try new things, be adventurous with your food, eat seasonally & don’t be too hard on yourself.”
