SPAR is celebrating 56 years and giving away groceries to 56,000 people. One man won free groceries twice in a row; his story is inspiring!
North West, South Africa – Barend Smit who lives in Ventersdorp, is a hero in his town. His town has dubbed him a hero for empowering previously disadvantaged women and teaching them to bake.
Their delicious baked goods are then sold at Smit’s famous Mikstok bakery shop in Ventersdorp. The income these 14 women generate from selling baked goods puts food on their tables and sends their children to school.
Barend shops at his local SUPERSPAR Alpha every day as he needs to buy goods for the ladies
“The women give me a list of the ingredients they need and I buy it at the SPAR,”
To celebrate SPAR’s 56th birthday, 56 000 lucky shoppers won their groceries. The campaign ran from the 23rd April to the 19th of May. Shoppers that bought any participating products in store and swiped their SPAR Rewards card were eligible to win their shop for free. Thousands of lucky winners got their shopping for free.
Barend won while shopping for the ladies baking supplies but he didn’t win just once! He was lucky enough to be a SPAR Go Big competition winner twice in a matter of a week.
When doing the shopping on 9 May, Barend said he was dumbstruck when the cashier told him that “everything was free.”
“When the cashier told me I don’t pay today, I did not understand. I could not believe that I had won all the groceries of R3 735! I regret not putting more groceries into the trolley,” Barend says jokingly.
A week later, Barend was back at his favourite SUPERSPAR for more groceries for the business. He says they are truly blessed as he won the SPAR Go Big competition for a second time and walked away with groceries to the value of more than R2 400.
“This is the first time in my life I had won anything. I could not believe that I had won twice! We are very blessed,” he said.
Barend said the extra money would be used to pay for business expenses such as electricity etc.
After obtaining a B.Comm Marketing degree, Barend started baking with his mother, who is a very experienced baker. When his mother retired, Barend took measures into his own hands and began Mikstok to help others earn an income. Looking back at the past 22 years at Mikstok, Barend is proud of the business. He thanked SUPERSPAR Alpha for many blessings.
Andre Voges, manager of SUPERSPAR Alpha, says they are very happy for Barend.
“He really deserved to win. He makes a big difference in the community and shops at SUPERSPAR Alpha almost every day. By winning twice, he has been the talk of the town,” said Voges.
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