First-generation farmer and entrepreneur, Ricardo Hood from Sanddrift, Brits has just launched a uniquely indigenous African product, canned Morogo at various food retail outlets across the North West Province.
Ricardo, the owner of Gogo’s Indigenous Foods, says that growing up in KZN he would pick and regularly eat Morogo (Umfino) with his maternal Gogo. Later on, after he relocated to Gauteng he would regularly buy morogo (wa thepe) from subsistence farmers and street vendors when the crop was in season. Due to the seasonality of the crop, he always wondered how and if one could get Morogo conveniently available throughout the year.
“I first got the idea of canning Morogo in 2018 after I came into contact with a farmer from the Free State who planted the crop commercially for sale to the local mines. I started
Morogo trials at different farmers’ fields on a small scale in the Brits area. I experienced much resistance and many challenges since morogo is considered a weed and invasive crop and not many farmers wanted the crop planted on their lands,” he said.

With the help of a friend, he rented small land parcels of land from different farmers. “It was usually on the most unproductive pieces of land on the farm but I was grateful for the opportunity to plant and make the most of it.” In 2022 Ricardo successfully passed all necessary safety and quality requirements and listed the product at two retail food outlets.
“I am currently mentored by farmer Jannie Rheeders from Rheeders Boerdery, and I intend to work with small-scale and subsistence farmers from the surrounding community to plant the crop for the company and thus act as a secure market for the farmers in supplying additional raw material as demand for the product increases. The process is quite labour-intensive in that the majority of the work is done by hand. Seeds are planted in September and seedlings are planted in October. Harvesting starts in November and continues into April. Seeds are then harvested from the plant and stored for planting in the next season.”
The product has a shelf life of 3 years and is available cooked and ready-to-eat in two varieties, namely traditional and plain.
Gogo’s canned Morogo will soon be available in Brits and Hartbeespoort as well.