South Africa is the fifth largest apple exporter, globally… our apples are perfect for making ciders…
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
We call ourselves Sxollie for a reaon! We’re here to hustle!
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
I find South Africa a very tough place to do business… I’ve been here for four years… It took me 18 months to secure a liquor licence; in Australia it took me six weeks… [He then names example after example of how tough it is to run a small business, compared to other markets he knows].
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
Karol Ostaszewski founded Sxollie cider in 2014 with his wife, Karol, who formerly owned a cider business in Australia.
Sxollie cider is made from the best apples from Elgin in the Western Cape, and fermented with Champagne yeasts.
Ostaszewski has bagged numerous international awards for Sxollie.
Besides South Africa, you can also find Sxollie in the United States, United Kingdom and Singapore.
People say I like drinking. That’s wrong. I love drinking.
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
The Money Show’s Bruce Whitfield interviewed Ostaszewski for his weekly “ShapeShifter” feature.
Listen to the interview in the audio below (and/or scroll down for more quotes from it).
Of every 10 beers sold, you’ll sell one cider… We need to work on cider to be the main drink of choice…
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
We’re trying to be the ‘New World’ of cider…
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
We export so many apples to the UK… All the top retailers are selling South African apples...
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
We don’t own orchids, but we own our recipe that I’ve developed over 10 years… [it is] the ultimate cider recipe…
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
It became a no-brainer when we considered the cost of production in South Africa.
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
Consistency [in taste] is not what we’re trying to achieve… There’s a subtle difference between each cider…
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
The UK cannot grow apples! There’s not enough sunshine! It’s bleak out there!
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
We do, on average, about 10 000 litres a month... roughly about 10% of that is consumed in South Africa…
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
Consumers in the UK understand quality, and are prepared to pay for it.
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
We turnover a nice little profit…
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
The challenges in South Africa tend to be around our price-point, because Savannah is half the price…
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
The growth in cider in South Africa is disappointing… We’re protecting our business by going overseas…
— Karol Ostaszewski, Sxollie
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