Last Saturday was a day to remember. Mrs. ’Maliau Sepaeee, the store manager of Made In Lesotho CO-operative (MILCO), walked up to receive the Farmer’s Pitso Award for the Best Supermarket, handed to her by none other than His Majesty King Letsie III. The award wasn’t just any award. It was for being the Best Supermarket in Lesotho Dedicated to Helping Basotho Farmers Reach Markets. And here’s the twist. MILCO isn’t just another store. It was created by the National University of Lesotho (NUL) Innovation Hub, and, thanks to the vision of the School in the Roma Valley, it made history!
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Brought to you by NUL Innovation Hub [Where Academia Meets Industry] & MILCO [a store that sells only Lesotho products at Sefika Complex]. MILCO was founded by NUL Innovation Hub!
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Now, let’s talk about MILCO.
MILCO is not your usual supermarket with imported goods stacked everywhere.
It’s special.
Why?
Because MILCO sells only products made in Lesotho.
Imagine walking into a store and knowing that everything on the shelf was made by your neighbours, your aunt, your cousin, or maybe even your own family.
That’s MILCO.
From the honey harvested in the mountains, to peanut butter made in home-based kitchens, to the vegetables from local farmers’ fields, everything has a proud “Made in Lesotho” tag.
So, what really happened on Saturday? In a hall full of big, well-established supermarket brands; local and foreign, MILCO was announced as the winner. You could almost hear the surprise in the crowd.
How could this young, homegrown store beat the giants?
But MILCO did.
And when Mrs. Sepaeee went up to take the award from the King, it was more than just a supermarket winning. It was a victory for every small Mosotho farmer and entrepreneur.
MILCO’s journey started as an idea at the NUL Innovation Hub, in fact it was created by the Hub itself. This Hub is where young dreamers and researchers work on turning ideas into real businesses. One of those dreams was simple: What if there was a store that sold only Lesotho products?
Not sometimes.
Not in a little corner in a big shop.
But entirely, proudly Basotho.
And that’s how MILCO was born.
But getting it done was never easy. Keeping it going is still not easy. There is a plenty of learning to do. Imagine going up against supermarkets that have been around for decades, with endless shelves, big advertising budgets, and foreign suppliers.
MILCO, on the other hand, is beginning as a small space with a big heart.
But it has proved that local products are just as good, sometimes even better, than the imported stuff.
Little by little, Basotho started taking note.
Farmers realized, “wait, I can bring my produce here and actually find buyers.” Makers of local products, from spices to flour, found a reliable shelf for their goods.
And customers discovered new treasures: real, authentic products with stories behind them.
Fast forward to last Friday, and this little supermarket stood tall against the giants.
It wasn’t just about the sales. No!
It was about impact.
It was about vision!
It was about care!
MILCO had proven that a store focused only on local products could succeed, and win a national recognition.
And let’s be honest.
It feels good when the King himself gives you the award. It’s like the whole nation is saying, “We see you. We believe in you. Keep going.”
Mrs. ’Maliau Sepaeee accepted the award with grace. In fact her other name is, wait for it…Grace!
But she knew the award belonged to many.
To the farmers who wake up before dawn to tend their crops.
To the small businesses that keep experimenting until they get the perfect recipe.
To the students and innovators at the Hub who believed in the dream of MILCO.
It was a shared victory.
So, what’s next for MILCO?
Well, if history tells us anything, this is just the beginning. Winning the Farmer’s Pitso Award is proof that the vision works.And more Basotho farmers and producers will now want to be part of the journey.
Picture it.
One day, when people talk about shopping in Lesotho, MILCO might be the first name that comes to mind. A supermarket built by Basotho, for Basotho, selling only Basotho products.
Saturday’s award was not just a trophy.
It was a message.
A message that small ideas can grow big. That local products matter. And that when you back your people, amazing things happen. And thank you Farmer’s Pitso Awards. Somehow, we knew, you would know true vision when you saw it! That ability, itself, requires visionaries!
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Brought to you by NUL Innovation Hub [Where Academia Meets Industry] & MILCO [a store that sells only Lesotho products at Sefika Complex]. MILCO was founded by NUL Innovation Hub!
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