Their sweets are enjoyed by adults and children alike. They are no normal sweets. They are tasty, soft, chewy, and could be adding to your health—in one package! They are exceptionally delicious—so they sell like hotcakes!
Here is a name list of the fearsome threesome behind the sweets: Limakatso Nthethe, Alinah Ralentši and Liepollo Mpabatsane. The trio have just graduated from the National University of Lesotho (NUL) with BSc degrees in Chemical Technology.
Like most scientists, you will struggle to get them to talk. But their steely determination to succeed speaks volumes.
Their business is called McAli. It stands for Maky, Alinah and Liepollo.
Sounds great!
Their sweets come in three. We’ve got the gummy chews, the sour jellies and the yummy mellows. It’s really very, very hard to choose which one to pick. When you eat one, you kinda feel like you are missing on the other.
They are all out of this world.
Here is the story of how the three, young, sweet ladies decided to get into the business of sweets.
“We have just finished our fifth year in Chemical Technology,” they related. “We still remember how one of our Chemical Technology lecturers used to complain about how we were producing almost nothing in Lesotho.”
The lecturer, they said, uttered something that would drive them into action, “He said, “it’s quite amazing that as the NUL, we are celebrating 70 years of existence, but if you go to the markets, you won’t even see sweets developed from NUL.””
The threesome said they were struck by the assertion. There they were, learning deep mysteries of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, studying and analyzing atoms and molecules and their odd behavior. But when would they make something out of that knowledge?
“Instead, our country is importing tens of thousands of sweets from South Africa!” they marveled. “So because our lecturer specifically talked about sweets, we wanted to make sweets. Yes, we wanted to prove that it was possible to have sweets factories in Lesotho.”
At that time, NUL was preparing for NULISTICE 2018 expo at the Pioneer Mall. So the trio plunged into the nuts and bolts of studying sweet—making. Like everything else, sweets may seem to be easy to make. But, as they say, the devil is in the details.
“As we studied sweets, we were pleasantly surprised to find that indeed sweets recipes were developed by chemists,” they exclaimed. “So we dug deeper.”
At last they made some sweets. Time now came for the expo. So they went to the expo to sell some of their sweets. They did not expect much. The very purpose of NULISTICE is to expose ideas and challenge them in potential markets.
They were in for a surprise!
They spent a week at the Pioneer mall and everyone loved their sweets. They were impressed. But not for too long. Time passed and they were back to square one—business as usual. They were busy with school, tests, exams and the likes.
But the storm was brewing. The storm they were not ready to resist.
There were some NUL students who happened to have tasted their sweets. They loved the sweets. So they were not going to let these ladies rest, no matter how hard they tried to avoid it.
“They pressured us to start making the sweets. We gave in and we never looked back, ever since.”
So you want to taste their sweets? Do so at your own risk—‘cause you ain’t go stop munching them. They are just too good! In Roma, you get them at Wezzy kitchen, Mzalas complex, and many Roma general dealers. You find them in some shops at Naleli, Ha Leqele and Sehlabeng. You also get them in Thoteng, Mohale’s Hoek.
“Our sweets sell so well,” the threesome spoke. “We produce and deliver to many shops almost on weekly basis.”
What of the sweets themselves?
You’ve got the gummy chews, whose major ingredient is gelatin. “Gelatin is a form of protein,” they said. “The name is from Latin; gelatus, which means “stiff.” Yes, gelatin, which is actually collagen hydrolysate, is a stiff material that also stiffens the sweets, making it a pleasure to munch.
Gelatin is rich in amino acids, some having 140 of them! So it can improve bones strength, ease joint pains and help with digestion among others.
Then we have sour jellies which are basically gummy chews with an extremely provocative sour taste. This one is a hit in the markets.
The last in the line-up is the yummy mellows. It is famed for its softness, lightness and other properties that literally sends you to the seventh heaven. It differs from the other two in terms of speed used in making it (rpms, if you know what we mean?).
You got to give it to these ladies for their dedication to success. “We are determined to establish a sweets factory in Lesotho. Whoever is willing to sponsor us, we will be very happy to talk.”
Catch them here: +266 59979280/+266 62102003