Goedgedacht launches new ‘goed’ range

A proudly South African company founded almost two decades ago has been supplying its products to premier retailers including one in the US… until now! With the launch of goed – its new label – the company’s range of award-winning extra virgin olive oils and related foods have become available to purchase online and direct to the public.
“It was time for Goedgedacht Trading to focus on building its own brand,” declares Rob Templeton, whose father, Peter, co-founded the Goedgedacht Trust with his wife Anne, in 1993. It is from the name Goedgedacht that the exciting new brand’s look and feel was derived.
“The word goed in a local context means good and we’ve always wanted this brand and this company to do goed in our communities, on our farm and for our consumers,” says Rob. “By building the goed brand we hope to continue to spread the goed-ness.”

The heart of the Goedgedacht Farm are the olive trees planted on its slopes. Olives were chosen as the preferred crop because of their resistance to the impact of climate change on the West Coast.
“It takes the olive tree years to bear fruit” says Rob. “And when that happened there would need to be a business to process those olives into oil. That is how the idea for the trading company came about.”
In 2003, Rob, under the guidance of his father, established Goedgedacht Trading. The first harvest produced 4L of the most precious extra virgin olive oil, and today this business produces over 50 000L of extra virgin olive oil from the 33ha of trees on the farm and from faithful growers who supply them with world class fruit.

A leading light in Goedgedacht Trading’s journey to quality was the appointment of Michael van den Langenbergh in 2016, now Factory Manager. Over his 13-year career, Michael has made extra virgin olive oil for several of South Africa’s top producers and beaten some of the top producers in the world to win awards in the US, Israel and Italy. An important part of working at Goedgedacht has always been mentorship and a few years ago, he began handing over oil production to Brendon Geduld. “He has done an awesome job and reminds me a lot of myself when I started. I see a long and good future for him in the Industry,” Michael says.

Goedgedacht’s Extra Virgin Olive Oils are renowned thanks to the awards they have won. These oils are now available online along with a diverse range of related products including table olives and olive paste and fruit-infused oil-free salad dressings.
Proceeds from the sale of these products go back into the Goedgedacht Trust to enable them to build vibrant, thriving, self-sustainable rural communities in South Africa.
For a buyer, that means goed not only comes with the proven record of quality but is also a sale for social good – a Purchase With Purpose.
The goed philosophy is the cornerstone of the brand. What was needed in terms of image was a design that communicated this message.
“We wanted the new look and feel to capture the goed brand’s feel-good, happy vibe” says Derick Botha, the designer who came up with the winning proposal.
“The brand is focused on helping communities to thrive. Goedgedacht Trading has been operating for 17 years supporting the Trust, all geared towards giving back and helping those in need. It is deeply rooted in heritage and has many stories to tell about the vision, the farm and the people. We wanted to create a visual language that encapsulated that.”

The goal was achieved using bright illustrations highlighting the people, environment, and great quality. “A bold and vibrant colour palette created a rich tapestry that is as adaptable as the brand is in creating happy and exciting possibilities,” says Derick.
The goed portfolio comprises a range of high-quality products, now available for purchase. They include:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Table olives, Olive paste and Dressing and spritz.
At the start of lockdown, Goedgedacht looked at how local communities could be assisted. One way was to bolster immune systems – an essential line of defence against viruses. It was for this reason that Goedgedacht partnered with a top South African bio-chemist to help develop a functional, water-soluble powdered beverage that was packed with high quality plant based botanicals and vitamins that could be distributed to those most in need and most at risk.
To order online, go to the online shop at www.goedgedachttrading.com.