Ndumiso Madlala is the co-founder of MadMead Brewing Co., South Africa's first and only black majority-owned microbrewery. After working as a process engineer for SABMiller, Madlala recognized an opportunity to capture the growing black middle-class market by creating a craft beer that connects to their roots. He founded MadMead Brewing Co. in 2013 and launched their flagship beer, Soweto Gold, a slightly sweet lager brewed in Soweto to provide city-dwelling black South Africans a "sip from home." Madlala aims to train only female master brewers and grow his staff to 50 people in order to contribute to reducing unemployment in South

1. 82 FASTCOMPANY.CO.ZA NOVEMBER 2014
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is co-founder and director of MadMead
Brewing Co., SA’s first and only black
majority-owned microbrewery
M Y WAY Ndumiso M. Madlala
Ndumiso Madlala’s passionate quest for the truly
superior lager has taken him around the world. After
pursuing an undergraduate degree (BSc in Chemical
Engineering) in his native province of KwaZulu-Natal,
he studied and worked in both London and the
Netherlands (where he tested revolutionary beer-
filtering technology as a junior engineer) before he was
snapped up by local brewing giant, SABMiller, to work
eventually as a process engineer.
Despite being undoubtedly destined for success
within the legendary brewery, Madlala had his eye
on South Africa’s burgeoning microbrewery industry,
which has been doubling in size year-on-year as the
country satisfies its curiosity for quirky and flavourful
craft beers. He quickly recognised there was an
opportunity to capture an increasingly important target
market that has not yet taken to craft beer in a big way:
the aspiring black middle-class.
His strategy? Create something that not only tastes
amazing, but which also satisfies this customer’s deep-
seated need to feel connected to his or her roots and
humble beginnings. With this idea in mind, Madlala
left SABMiller in September 2013 to co-found the
MadMead Brewing Co.—South Africa’s first and only
black majority-owned microbrewery. In April 2014,
it also became the first and only township-based
microbrewery, according to Madlala, occupying a
By Jessica Hubbard
LIQUID
TALENT
Soweto Gold is capturing an
increasingly important target
market that has not yet taken to
craft beer in a big way: the aspiring
black middle-class
sprawling space in the heart of Soweto.
“When you look at the origins of
successful black middle-class people
who live in the suburbs of Gauteng,
many of them actually come from
Soweto,” explains Madlala. “So we
are providing them with a ‘sip from
home’ by offering a premium product
that can compete with other
‘aspirational’ drinks”.
This product was aptly named
‘Soweto Gold’—reflecting the craft
beer’s authentic township credentials
as well as its ambition to provide a
superior drinking experience.
The Soweto Gold Superior Lager is
slightly sweet and fruity with a low
bitterness which, Madlala explains, is
part of his strategy to attract female
drinkers. “Traditionally, in our culture,
a woman who drinks beer is looked
down upon and is seen as inferior—and
we want to change that perception.”
He points out that the brewing
of beer is an ancient African craft
performed by the female members
of the family—and MadMead Brewery
Co. intends to revive the age-old
tradition by training only female
master brewers.
Training and recruiting staff with
the right talent and expertise remains
one of Madlala’s biggest challenges,
with the intention of growing from
their tight-knit team of three to a staff
of 50-strong by November.
Yet, the charismatic entrepreneur
points out that this is also one of the
most rewarding parts of his job as
‘chief beer officer’.
“It is exciting to know that I’m
contributing to the government’s
main goal of cutting down on
unemployment,” he adds. “When I
drive through Soweto every morning
to get here, it is very saddening to see
young, idle people in the streets.”
With his liquid talent and genuine
love of the business of brewing,
Madlala is already playing his part in
the country’s transformation—one
artfully made craft beer at a time.
GALLOIMAGES/THETIMES/DANIELBORN