South African consumers spend more than R600 billion annually on food and non-alcoholic beverages. Yet, shelves still lean on imported and acid-heavy drink options. In Townships, convenience buying dominates and healthier options compete with sharp sodas and fast alcohol demand. Entrepreneur and Founder Patrick Thokkie is rewriting that balance. As the founder of LIB Food Brands, he is pushing beverages that lead with smooth taste, consistency, and Kasi identity showing that Township manufacturing can change what communities have long accepted as the default.
A Career that Started Between the Shelf and the Hand
A career rooted in retail aisles gave Patrick early insight into the mechanics of Fast-Moving Customer Goods FMCG traction. As an external merchandiser, he spent years tracking buying pressure, pricing friction, and product visibility. He later pursued marketing studies, sharpening his understanding of consumer language and local brand relatability. When COVID-19 destabilised employment everywhere, Patrick and his partner made the calculated leap shifting from merchandising global brands to producing their own. That pivot gave life to their first beverage releases, LIB Loxion Juice The names were built for cultural recognition, chosen to mirror Alexandra Township life movement, families, hostels, and the every-day grind rather than echoing Western naming habits. “People got woke. They wanted something that belongs to them,” he shares. “So we built brands that sound like home, taste like quality, and move like Township life.”
Gap. Product. Market.
The founders didn’t just see demand they saw patterns. Acidic sodas were the standard refreshment. Alcohol was the fastest purchase in hostels, quarter shops, and community savings circles. Families, co-living quarters, and informal retailers had few drink options that were smooth, balanced, and inclusive across generations. So LIB Food Brands introduced a beverage alternative made for shared moments, weekly meetups, and Sunday family tables. The promise was simple and strict smooth taste, healthier balance, cultural ownership, and consistent flavour production batch after batch. “You must open it next Friday or next Monday it must taste the same,” Patrick emphasises. “Branding brings it to the hand. Taste makes it come back for more.”
Food Safety, Funding and the Discipline of Compliance
Market entry into food manufacturing is rarely frictionless for SMEs. But Patrick counters the belief that regulatory systems stall founders. LIB received government stakeholder support for food safety certification, with costs covered valued at more than R20,000. Compliance testing took place through government-funded coworking facilities, supplemented by strict temperature checks, batch-level flavour monitoring, and surplus inventory planning. Thermometers and taste-control monitoring are non-negotiables in production. “Red tape is real. But so is progress,” he says. “Government didn’t delay us. It disciplined us and funded the discipline.”
18 Stores Later Now Preparing for Distribution Centres
Today, LIB Food Brands moves product into 18 retail stores, including spa & saver stainless-steel-chain outlets. They are now preparing for national-level distribution centre negotiations that could increase output pressure and store demand. Their current backbone is built on scheduling, Monday to Wednesday is dedicated to surplus inventory production and batch taste control. Thursday and Friday go into meetings, sales outreach, and rapid admin execution. Weekends are protected for family and stock monitoring to prevent demand-supply breaks. “Scheduling is the heartbeat,” Patrick explains. “You protect your product by protecting your time.”
People. Roles. Balance.
LIB Food Brands was founded by two male entrepreneurs, but Patrick Thokkie ensures leadership, operations, and opportunity inside the business remain balanced and inclusive. The company’s admin, finance, promotions, and compliance workflows are driven largely by capable women and supported by men in production, sales, and logistics forming a system where roles align to strengths without excluding participation. Patrick sees this balance as essential for growth. “We build better when everyone owns their role and no one carries the load alone,” he says. By creating space for both women and men to lead key parts of the business, LIB shows that sustainable manufacturing and FMCG success is built through shared ownership, organised delivery, and internal equity.
Plans to scale
Patrick’s goal stretches beyond South Africa, but it respects a phased market ladder: relevance first, then reach. LIB is rolling out a new product variant with year-long shelf-life stability, non-fridge packaging, and low spoilage risk for long-distance distribution. Target entry markets include Namibia, Botswana, and Mozambique, indicating the start of a logical African expansion strategy. “Maybe in three years’ time, we’re in Africa properly,” he says. “But first, we must be national. We must dominate home.”
Words to Future Founders
When asked what message he would give to emerging entrepreneurs, Patrick’s answer carries Kasi clarity and founder grit: “Your vision must see what others don’t. Failure is part of production. Quitting produces nothing. Don’t chase applause, chase repeat customers.” His story reflects a founder forging a legacy built on shelf identity, flavour consistency, and long-term African expansion proving that in Township FMCG manufacturing, leadership isn’t heard through volume. It’s remembered through taste.
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