Our Story

Welcome to the home of South Africa’s leading picnic blanket manufacturer.

The story behind our brand…

Hi everyone, my name is Marguerite van der Merwe. I am the owner and founder of Piekant (Pty)Ltd t/a Piekant Picnic. I am a mom of 3 very busy kids, Mienke (16), Wouter (14) and Schalk (10) and wife to a very supportive husband, Wiehan.

How did Piekant Picnic start?

In 2014, I made my first picnic blanket without any previous sewing knowledge and only a borrowed sewing machine. But I had a dream and a God whom I knew will help me every step of the way. That first picnic blanket took me 2 weeks and numerous tries, but I finally had a finished product. Soon after I started advertising on social media I had my first order, I was super excited. My first client was so impressed and by word of mouth and through constant advertising on Facebook, I had a steady stream of orders.

Fast forward to 4 years later and Piekant Picnic was growing rapidly and becoming more popular. I decided to attend my first trade show. Again having no experience in exhibiting at trade shows, I went without knowing what to expect… Well needless to say, I didn’t receive any orders but I learned so much and I was ready for the next show in August. After my second exhibition in August 2017, I got my first corporate order for 110 picnic blankets and for the first time it felt like my dreams are becoming a reality!!

2018 and Piekant Picnic is well on it’s way to becoming a well known brand. After receiving another corporate order for 260 picnic blankets I converted our 3rd garage into a small factory and employed 3 seamstresses (one being my mom who has almost 40 years experience in the sewing industry.) Another dream coming true… This enabled us to also diversify and we added 6 new products to our list.

Two years later Covid-19 hit and we had to stop our production for a month in April 2020. This was a very stressful time as we saw a lot of small businesses closing, but we serve a mighty God and with His help we were able to start production again in May but only for mask manufacturing. We had to think on our feet to keep our doors open and keep our staff safe so for the rest of 2020 our seamstresses worked from home with only me and our 2 cutters working at the factory.

July 2020 in the midst of a world wide pandemic, we were fortunate to export our first shipment to the USA. Since then Piekant Picnic has grown so much and we now employ 8 full time employees (me included off course). My mom has since retired but I am privileged to work with very talented ladies who are excellent and the best in the business to ensure every product made in our factory is of THE BEST quality!

In 2021 we had the opportunity to do an online course with the GIZ in Germany in how to do business with Germany, this has opened so many doors and enabled me to be more aware on how to do business with foreign countries. I am very priviledged to have been able to have that experience and gained the knowledge.

July 2022 we acquired a fabric printer and since then we design and print our own fabrics. This has also enabled us to reach schools and corporate companies and provide them with our custom printed product, complete with their logo and company colours printed on each product.

In September 2022 we had the opportunity to exhibit in Paris, France at Maison & Objet together with 14 other South African Small Businesses. It has open up new opportunities and an insight into the European market which has been invaluable in growing a brand for the global market.

Thank you for reading our story, please come visit our retail shop in George and keep on supporting our business, without our loyal clients we won’t have a story to tell. I have BIG plans for Piekant Picnic and with the grace of God we will soon be in every house in South Africa and beyond…

We hope you enjoy browsing through our site and looking at all our beautiful products!

Meet The Team

Wouter (14), Mienke (16), Me (Marguerite), Wiehan and Schalk (10) in front