At home in Belfield

Allister Kreft has been building on his father’s legacy at their small family farm, Belfield, situated in the scenic Elgin Valley. What started as a boutique winery and cellar is now the central hub for several business ventures. But it will always firstly be a place called home.

Allister Kreft still has fond memories of growing up on Lourensford, where his father, Mike, used to be the general manager. As a boy, Allister was used to a life where he could go fishing every day after school.

But in 2000 that chapter came to a close, and Mike and Mel Kreft bought a run-down fruit farm in Elgin called Belfield to begin a new life there.

Belfield Farm

A new chapter

The move came as Allister was finishing matric and enrolled to study Business Science and Marketing at UCT. “The reason for buying the small farm was to stay in agriculture, because that was my dad’s passion and expertise, and the reason for the wine was that it provides a value-added product to the raw material,” says Allister.

Mike began planting vineyards almost immediately, teaching Xhosa right-hand man Lawrence Lebenya how to tend the vines. Allister didn’t necessarily envision his own future in the wine industry, but it was inevitable his parents’ enthusiasm would leave its mark. “Anyone who grows up on a small farm becomes part of the team, and our family was all involved in setting up the brand, and that led me down a path in terms of wine and what I do now.”

Allister started his first company straight out of university. Like the move from the luxurious environment of Lourensford to rural Elgin, it was a reality check at first. There were no millions in investor funds as implied by his academic courses. Instead, he sold flash drives and computers on campus.

But it was the dot-com boom, and together with a friend Allister set up a wireless internet company which they built into a successful business. He learnt valuable lessons along the way, and it also presented opportunities to consult in the wine industry. “There was always this pull back into wine,” he recalls.

Belfield vineyard manager Lawrence Lebenya has lived on the farm all his life. Nobody knows its vineyards like he does.

Rolling with the punches

The experience of creating a new brand and running a business would come in useful for Allister’s next venture, one step closer to the wine industry. Under the Influence was initially a forum where members presented talks ‘under the influence’ of a different wine topic each month. “It was initially created as a wine club focused on top-end and boutique wineries, but then the global financial crisis hit, and in 2009 the format changed to focus more on education.”

Along with Under the Influence, Allister was also in the founding team behind Lobster Ink, an e-learning and hospitality training company. “Running the two businesses side by side established relationships with wineries who had a passion for training and education, and we started doing a lot more work in lodges and hotels throughout Africa.

Truly African

Some businesses start out preplanned; others develop as a set of coincidences, good fortune and things that go wrong, says Allister. His journey has tended to follow the latter course.

One of their training customers was the Victoria Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe. The financial crisis had hit them hard, and they suggested a trade exchange to keep the relationship going. “We knew wine and had great contact with wineries in South Africa who were still poorly represented in Africa, so we offered to procure and curate their drinks list while providing training at no cost. We became a training business funded by wine.”

The relationship proved mutually beneficial and revealed an opportunity to focus on quality brands throughout Africa. “When you’re an international traveller paying thousands of dollars to visit the African continent, you want to experience the best it has to offer. But when you bring great products into the Continent, you also have a responsibility to make sure they’re presented correctly at the right temperature and that staff are properly trained.”

“Many of our customers are conservation business funded by selling beds; we’re like a training company funded by selling wine.”

Creating excellence

Things snowballed and customers began streaming in. There was a steady demand for better wine list descriptions, the ability to analyse drinks list performance, better ordering systems and more staff training. With his IT background, Allister hired a software team in 2015 to set up Beverage Intelligence to address those needs. “Using the system, customers can manage their drinks lists, optimise their stock management and enrol their team members into our e-learning programmes.”

Through the two companies – Under the Influence and Beverage Intelligence – they’re able to empower waiters, managers, and sommeliers to become coaches within their own organisations throughout Africa. They set up offices in Zambia, Mauritius and Kenya, and Allister was travelling about 200 days of the year at one point.

The companies are active in 25 countries on the continent, with 25 000 waiters in training. “We view our brands and customers as partners,” says Allister. “We can’t set up a bottle store in every village in Africa, so we need customers who can work with us across long distances. Our philosophy is to add value to everyone.”

The end of the beginning

It all started with Belfield. “This is the farm that got me going. Knowing what small, boutique brands have to do to get distribution and get out there is why we’re so focused on smaller, family-owned, purpose-driven brands. These are brands building their communities, farming sustainably, conserving their land, which resonates with me. It comes full circle from growing up on this small farm and seeing just how much hard work it takes.”

Mike Kreft passed away in 2018, leaving a large hole in everyone’s life. But his legacy lives on in so many ways. Lawrence tends the wines, supported by Kevin Watt as consulting viticulturist. The cellar is now an education studio while Belfield’s focus is on farming grapes for acclaimed wineries, including De Trafford, Radford Dale, 4G Wines, Lismore and others. Mike would be proud.

“It’s the end of the beginning,” says Allister, who has recently become a proud father himself. With his wife Nicole, a medical doctor, he has just welcomed a daughter into the world. They will no doubt enjoy many adventures with the extended family Allister has nurtured over the years, building a values-based business culture with partners, clients and team members across Africa. “She’ll be a child of Africa. I like the thought of not just being a travelling corporate, but incorporating family life into our work. That makes me happy.”

Belfield’s new generation: Hannah Kreft with her parents, Allister and Nicole.