Bonang Matheba is our Women’s Month issue cover star! For this groundbreaking August/September edition, it was only fitting to have one of the most powerful women in Africa share her inspirational success story and journey to becoming the formidable force that she is.
Not only is she an award-winning media personality, she is an author, style icon and business woman, and is the founder of luxury beverage brand House of BNG.
Launched in 2019, House of BNG was founded as a “love a letter to Africa”, sharing in some of the country’s most memorable and prestigious moments - such as the inauguration of President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Miss SA pageant, to name a few.
Today, the company continues to innovate in the MCC category, using only the finest local grapes and carefully-crafted blends.
In our exclusive cover story, Bonang opens up about her journey with House of BNG, aspirations for the future, and her four tips for success.
Tell us a little about what inspired House of BNG and how your journey as a business woman and entrepreneur has been so far. The highs and lows?
When we were shooting my reality show, Being Bonang series one, there were a lot of social media nuggets that started trending such as the saying “Champagne Darling!” The people around me knew of my love for bubbly, and my love of celebrations, so a friend of mine, Thulane Hadebe, said, “Why don’t you start your own wine label and follow in the footsteps of P.Diddy and Jay Z?” and I said “Well, let’s do that!”
Thereafter, we met up with a couple of winemakers from Stellenbosch in Cape Town, including my now partner, Jeff Grier – an amazing wine master and has produced some of the best wines in the country. We named it House of BNG, which is an acronym for Bonang. I sat down with him and said, I want to create my own label. The process took several years, doing product development, and in March 2018 we launched the House of BNG. The launch was a massive success and it has grown so much that our company has expanded and we have employed more people.
We have collaborated with some of the biggest brands in SA such as the Miss South Africa brand, the SA Sports Awards, and the inauguration of President Cyril Ramaphosa. It’s been a series of ups and downs, and any young entrepreneur will tell you that starting your own company is not easy. I’m grateful to have a mother who is a corporate bulldog and mastermind. She has taught me the ins and outs of running a business and increasing my commercial value.
How did you decide on the different BNG offerings and how does this relate to your personality or lifestyle?
House of BNG started off with the bottled Brut MCC and Brut Rose flavours. As the brand grew, we recognised that our customers wanted to take House of BNG with them to events and festivals, so we decided to create the canned version for convenience.
We also realised that South Africans preferred their sparkling wine a little sweeter and introduced new flavours such as the Nectar Blanc and Rose sparkling wines...the first true sparkling wines in a can. The packaging of the cans was inspired by my handbag collection. We also offer the prestige limited edition category to our group of customers who wanted to spend on premium SA wines. We do have a range that serves all types of wine connoisseurs. Later this year, we will be launching a non-alcoholic version of the MCC sparkling wines for my fans that don’t drink alcohol.
What are your plans for the next two years of your life?
I have dreams of making the House of BNG a continental and global success. And Brand Bonang is still there. I am going to be hosting massive productions around the world which I am very excited about.
The next two years are going to be wonderful, the growth that I have seen outside of SA has been phenomenal and it’s a matter of finding projects that I want to do – things I am most proud of and that resonate with my heart.
Bonang’s 4 tips for success
- Work at your own pace.
- Be kind to yourself.
- Find like-minded people.
- If you can, travel and see the world.
