{"id":825750,"date":"2025-05-28T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=825750"},"modified":"2025-05-28T16:55:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T14:55:02","slug":"the-woman-behind-south-africas-most-iconic-food-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/825750\/the-woman-behind-south-africas-most-iconic-food-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"The woman behind South Africa’s most iconic food brand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some brands do more than fill shelves. They become part of a national identity.\u00a0In South Africa, Mrs H.S.\u00a0Ball’s Chutney is one of those rare icons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s the perfect sidekick to a spicy curry, a braai essential, or the finishing touch on a cheese sandwich, it\u2019s hard to imagine a South African kitchen, or a dish like bobotie, without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Tamara Oberholster wrote in the Journal of Marketing, \u201cas Guinness is to Ireland and Ferrari is to Italy, so is Mrs Ball\u2019s to South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many differing accounts about the brand’s long history, yet all trace back to Amelia Alice Elizabeth Adkins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The official Mrs. Ball\u2019s website claims the chutney recipe originated with an Indian chef aboard the SS Quanza, which shipwrecked off South Africa\u2019s coast in 1852. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They claim that Amelia’s parents, Henry James Adkins and Elizabeth (Sarah) Spalding, survived and preserved the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, critics say that this marketing tale is embellished, noting the shipwreck occurred in 1872, not 1852 and that the two only met in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of how they got the recipe, the two got married in King William\u2019s Town in 1852 and settled in the nearby village of Fort Jackson to run a general dealership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Adkins had seven sons and four daughters, including Amelia, who was born in 1865.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Brand South Africa<\/a>, Desmond Ball, Amelia’s great-grandson, said that Sarah started making chutney commercially around 1870. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, she was not skilled at brand-building, ultimately labelling her product “Mrs Henry Adkins Senior, Colonial Chutney Manufacturer, Fort Jackson, Cape Colony”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Sarah\u2019s death, Amelia\u2019s sister and brother, Florence and Harold, continued to manufacture chutney at Fort Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1886, Amelia married railway superintendent Herbert Saddleton (HS) Ball at Newlands, East London. They moved to Johannesburg with their seven children, with Amelia taking her mother’s chutney recipe with her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the First World War, Amelia began making chutney for her family and friends. It was so popular that she decided to turn it into a business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She initially sold it at church bazaars, and by 1918, she was selling an average of 24 bottles a day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amelia’s husband would take a few bottles by train into Cape Town every day to sell, which is how he met businessman Fred Metter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon HS’s retirement, the Balls moved to the pretty coastal town of Fish Hoek. Here, Mrs Ball started increasing her production from her home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon, her production outgrew her home-industry scale. Thus, she and her husband approached Metter to take the business to the next level, which they successfully did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amelia Alice Elizabeth Adkins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Metter magic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Metter had a business in Bree Street called Metter & Koenigsfest, later shortened to Metter & Co., which represented overseas brands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granddaughter of Metter Shelley Garb told the Jewish Report that he wanted to “take a chance” on the product he believed in, knowing how to scale it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked what she would name the chutney, Amelia replied, “Mrs HS Ball\u2019s Chutney” (her husband’s initials), and the brand was born. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He started selling it on the Balls’ behalf. Metter quickly realised the chutney’s popularity and the need for much larger-scale production, and became immersed in the product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is credited with being integral in designing the octagonal jar, the oval label, and the Ball family crest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together with Amelia Balls\u2019 two brothers and some businessmen Metter knew, they built a factory in Retreat, and their Cape Town offices also moved there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The factory was ultimately relocated three times, each time to larger premises, eventually settling in Diep River. Under Metter’s marketing efforts, sales increased significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, only the original recipe chutney was made. However, Amelia’s uncle Harry liked things with a “bit of a bite” and would crush a chilli into the chutney, which led to the creation of Mrs. Ball’s Hot Chutney. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metter is credited with deciding that peach chutney would sell, so it was added to the lineup. By 1957, the product began to be exported to the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many family members worked in the factory. For example, Desmond Ball, Amelia’s great-grandson, used to work in the factory during the holidays. His uncle, Edward Ball, was the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Amelia’s sister, Florence, and brother, Harold, continued to make the “Adkins Chutney,” which they had inherited from their mother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt caused quite a lot of strife,\u201d said Desmond. \u201cHere were these two sisters, both making chutney, in direct competition with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florence and Harold later sold Adkins Chutney to Warne Bros, which was then sold to Iona Products, and it eventually went out of production in the 1970s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The different outcomes for the two chutneys, both made with the same recipe, have been attributed to marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Ball herself passed away in 1962 at the age of 97. Her son and grandson made sure the original recipe was kept secret after her death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the 1970s, the factory had become too large for the independent manufacturers to manage, and dealing with major supermarkets had become difficult due to price cuts and intense competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main shareholders began receiving offers from large food conglomerates and eventually sold the business when the offer was high enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooke Bond Oxo bought the business first, who later sold it to Unifoods (now Unilever Foods) in the 1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fred Metter in front of the Balls Chutney factory. Image: The Jewish Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Modern day Mrs H.S Balls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, Unilever sold Mrs Balls to Tiger Brands for R475 million, excluding inventories. In 2011, the product generated a turnover of\u00a0R189 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Mrs. Ball\u2019s chutney continues to be made locally and is exported to the UK, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Ball’s chutney range has expanded beyond Original Mild to include Hot, Extra Hot, Peach, Tomato, Chilli, Light\u2013Hot Spicy, and Light\u2013Mild Fruity, catering to various tastes and dietary needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs Ball\u2019s owes its success not only to its original taste but also to sharp marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brand admittedly targets families and proudly South African consumers. This is seen through campaigns especially resonant with expats, and collaborations with local brands like Simba Chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the brand’s success under large corporations, Desmond Ball, Amelia’s great-grandson, still lives near Fish Hoek and has been determined to keep the family tradition alive, as they have been making chutney for five generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desmond dug up the old family recipe from his days working in the factory and started manufacturing on a small scale after he heard whispers that the recipe has changed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has named his chutney Amelia\u2019s Chutney in honour of his great-grandmother. He puts her picture on his bottle so people can see she was a real person, and sells his chutney at local markets in Tokai and Fish Hoek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Mrs H.S.\u00a0Ball’s Chutney <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Desmond Ball. Photo: Amelia’s Chutney Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mrs H.S. Ball\u2019s Chutney, rooted in a complex family history, has become a staple of South African kitchens and culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":825751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[22660,853,11629],"class_list":["post-825750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-mrs-h-s-balls-chutney","tag-south-africa","tag-tiger-brands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825750"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":825842,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825750\/revisions\/825842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}