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Cornell University

Emerging Markets Program

Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Teams (SMART) Program

South Africa Seven Sisters

Team Leader:

Ed Mabaya

Project Location: 

Cape Town, South Africa 

Type of organization:

Private company (small enterprise) 

Brief description of organization: 

The seven sisters behind this winery are indeed biological sisters, and they hail from Paternoster, a picturesque fishing village on the Cape’s West Coast. The Brutus sisters, along with their baby brother John, had to leave their home when the family was evicted after their father lost his job of over 20 years with a local fishing company. Now, 25 years later, their wine brand, Seven Sisters, launched in 2007, was a way to change their destiny. The Seven Sisters wines are sourced from vineyards in the Swartland area. Swartland falls under the West Coast area and consist of hundreds of small wine farms. In earlier years farmers were mainly doing wheat farming and later on found the soils suitable for grape farming. They found that the soils have a good under structure for water retention that stores the water for the dryer months; therefore, no formal irrigation systems are necessary.   

 Website: 

http://www.sevensisters.co.za/

Video: 

Task description and Goals:

Seven Sisters has decided to diversity their business by getting into agro-tourism, events and restaurant.  The SMART project will benchmark competitors, develop marketing strategy, and evaluate growth strategies.   The team will also write an updated case study for publication. 

Skill Requirements  

  • Good understanding of business and development frameworks 
  • Keen interest and/or knowledge in entrepreneurship and development  
  • Excellent analytical and writing skills (the case study will be published) 
  • Use of social media for marketing  

 Suggested Timeline and Logistics:  

7-17 January 2018.  The team will be staying in Stellenbosch