Inventive Tomm Bros Industries is a cooperative which is producing and supply toilet paper to the Gauteng Department of Social Development since 2019.
Tomm Bros Industries currently operating from Garankuwa Industrial Site in the Tshwane Region, is the brainchild by the three friends who initiated this concept in 2011 and is funded by City of Tshwane, National Development Agency (NDA) and the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP).
Cooperative Director Mpho Mashaba said, "Despite the coronavirus challenges, we are determined to succeed as currently we are working with retail giant Spar Supermarket where our toilet paper is sold under Tbi Tomm Bros Industries. We are gradually moving away from cooperative to fully fleshed business. Ours is to increase the clientele which is gradually growing even if is at a snail pace".
Mashaba cautioned though, "Even though we might be operating from hand to mouth, our ambition is own land which we hope to build a factory which will enable to save on rental fees. We also hope to employ more staff to grow the business".
He said, "Before lockdown last years in March, we were producing between 300 to 400 of 48 paper packs per week and business was booming as we managed to open another branch and bought a bigger production machinery.
At the moment, the cooperative has employed five local casual workers whose employment is determined by the volume of demand.