The woman behind Tashas tapping into a small South African town to develop a high-end alcohol brand

The restaurateur behind Tashas Group is teaming up with Grammy Award-winning DJ Black Coffee to build a premium agave spirit label in their native South Africa, tapping into the growing demand for high-end alcohol products.

Natasha Sideris and Nkosinathi Maphumulo plan to source agave, a key ingredient in tequila, from the Karoo, a semi-arid region better known for premium lamb products.

They have also bought a building in the historic Eastern Cape town of Robert Sobukwe, formerly Graaff-Reinet, to house their operations.

The label, Leonista, is expected to debut toward the end of the year, with Sideris intending to offer the spirit in her group’s bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.    

“For me as a restaurateur and for him as this world-famous musician to be able to take the story of Africa in a bottle to the world will be really incredible,” Sideris said in an interview.

“People have got a clichéd view of Africa — farms, masks and strictly wildlife. South Africa has certainly shown itself on the world stage to be more than that.”

“There’s a sophistication, a grit, there’s so much talent in South Africa, and we want to be able to showcase that.”

The development mirrors a global trend, with celebrities moving from simply endorsing to establishing alcoholic and sober beverage companies.

High-profile examples include entertainer Beyoncé’s foray into the luxury whisky market with LVMH’s Moët Hennessy and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s PLEZi sparkling fruit juice for kids. 

It also comes as South Africa is gaining global recognition for producing premium alcohol such as award-winning wines, as well as brandy and gin.

Pernod Ricard SA last year completed its buyout of locally made Inverroche and seeks to turn it into Africa’s first global luxury spirit brand.   

The agave spirit the restaurateur and entertainer plan to produce is similar to tequila in that it is distilled from the same plant genus.

But tequila, like champagne, has protected status and can only be made in designated regions of Mexico using blue agave.

Other partners in Leonista include a former executive at a major African producer of wines, spirits, and ciders and the founder of a specialised local financial services firm.

Sideris declined to disclose how much the investors have put into the venture, describing it as a passion project.  

The restaurateur, who built a hospitality group from a single Johannesburg café into 45 locations across five countries, plans to open her first tashas restaurant in Greece this year.

Tashas Group is also seeking new partners to help it grow in South Africa, where it aims to introduce eight of its internationally developed brands, such as Flamingo Room by tashas, Bungalo34 and African Lounge. 

It’ll also continue investing in the Middle East and open two new tashas restaurants in Sharjah and Al Ain this month despite regional uncertainty caused by the US-Israel war in Iran. “We, surprisingly, are doing relatively OK,” Sideris said. 

Steps the group implemented to mitigate against the effects of the war included reducing options on regional menus, pay cuts with promissory notes and offering food from its elevated dining restaurants on delivery platforms for the first time.

“The measures that we took were absolutely necessary, but we certainly thought it would be far worse than it is,” she said.