Hannelie’s Road to Digital Marketing Success

by

This is the story of Hannelie, the founder of Sanctuary Farm Produce. After she started her online store with Portmoni last year, her sales doubled! Delve into this article to find out the secrets behind Hannelie’s achievements.

case study hannelie arge

The business of Hannelie, Sanctuary Farm Produce, consists of growing chili peppers, turning them into a variety of products, and selling them online and offline. Hannelie discovered the health benefits of chili peppers while overcoming health issues more than 10 year ago. Following this experience, she started growing chili peppers in 2013. This led her to a thriving business, that was even featured in the media.

But she wanted to grow her business more.

Using Portmoni, she created her online store in 2021. Bringing her business online with Portmoni took her business to the next step: she doubled her sales last year!

Want the same for you? Start your 14-days free trial and take your business online like Hannelie did.

 

In the past year, our sales more than doubled, and there are people all over South Africa who order.

Hannelie van S.

In this interview we’ll see:

Let’s dive into it!

Want to start your online store?

Create your high-quality online store in 5 minutes.

Start your 14-day free trial

A Business Born From Deep Down

hannelie sancturay farm produce

The story of Sanctuary Farm Produce started in 2009. That year, Hannelie was diagnosed with cancer. During the treatments she received, she was seeking alternative ways to help her body fight the illness. This is how she discovered the benefits of chili peppers: “The long and short of the reason for the business is the health benefits of chili peppers.”

Hannelie finally recovered and founded Sanctuary Farm Produce in 2013. Her goal was to help spread the health benefits that helped her during her illness.

Her business grows 218 varieties of chili peppers on one of South Africa’s largest organic chili pepper seed banks. Using these chili peppers, she develops sauces, chutneys, pickles, jams, and other condiments she sells to the public.

Before starting her online store, Hannelie was already finding success. She was for instance featured on NisBoere (DSTV) in 2017 and in an article in Landbouweekblad in 2020. But Hannelie wanted to grow her business more.

She wanted to bring her business online. This would help her exposure – a great benefit for any business – and also allow her to showcase a wider range of products. And she would also access a much larger audience.

This is when she discovered Portmoni.

Taking Sanctuary Farm Produce Online with Portmoni

hannelie case study chili peppers

Hannelie discovered Portmoni through an ad on Facebook. Of course, she had some doubts and concerns: “My main concern was that there might be hidden costs.”

But thanks to the 14-day free trial offered by Portmoni, there was no risk to get started. So she decided to give it a try.

And it turned out that not only was Portmoni affordable, it was also easy to use: “I think the main thing that made me decide to purchase is because it is user-friendly. Anybody with an imagination can build a website with Portmoni.”

I think the main thing that made me decide to purchase is because it is user-friendly. Anybody with an imagination can build a website with Portmoni.

Hannelie van S.

Hannelie had found an online home for Sanctuary Farm Produce. It gave her an affordable means of advertising her products and reaching wider markets.

Portmoni had granted her a new channel to grow her business.

How Portmoni Helped Hannelie’s Business Grow

pepper case study sfp

Since building her store on Portmoni, Hannelie has seen incredible growth. “In the past year, our sales more than doubled, and there are people all over South Africa who order.”

As Hannelie notes, having a website is “a fantastic way to build trust with people who buy products from you at a market or festival, especially if it is people who are not living in the same area.”

Indeed, a professional-looking website builds trust with customers. And it gives them the ability to order products online, no matter where they are. Hannelie particularly enjoys the payment and delivery options as two of Portmoni’s best features: “Payment and delivery options are made easy”.

Her online store has gotten over 16,000 visitors since its creation. Visitors come from South Africa, Singapore, Germany, and even the United States.

And to grow her business online, she promotes her site across social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Google, TikTok, and WhatsApp Business.

A great product, a clear vision for her business, and a user-friendly platform like Portmoni. This was the recipe for her success.

The Future of Sanctuary Farm Produce

product case study hannelie

Recently, Sanctuary Farm Produce won the 2023 African Excellence Award for “Best Farm Produced Company” in Africa. As Hannelie puts it, “that is a clear indication of the quality of our products.”

Hannelie’s plans for the future revolve around the vision she defined for Sancturay Farm Product when she started the business: to help people in the same way she needed help during one of the scariest times in her life.

She also understands that healthy living lies at the core of her success. “By creating awareness on living better and healthier, we hope to draw more people to our site and thus help us grow.”

This helps her goal to get her products stocked on other small businesses’ shelves. And it also brings more visitors to her online store!

And like many small businesses, funding is one of her main concerns. But her site also contributes to solving this issue. For instance, Portmoni features a donation option, which “helps with people who want to make donations towards the growth of the company.”

Conclusion

Hannelie took a moment of great adversity and turned it into a business. And this business has only grown more since building her website on Portmoni!

What does she likes the most? That Portmoni is a user-friendly platform with excellent customer service: “You don’t wait for days on end to get a problem sorted or have a problem with setting up your website.”

And she also liked that Portmoni’s 14-day trial period gave her the time she needed to build her website before purchasing:  “The 14-day trial period is really useful to build your website and make sure that everything is working 100% before purchasing”.

Want to start your own website like Hannelie did? Just start your free 14-day trial today!

Want to start your online store?

Create your high-quality online store in 5 minutes.

Start your 14-day free trial

Related articles