A couple have opened a South African themed shop in Bournemouth’s Burlington Arcade.
Matteo and Larissa Settembrini’s store, Benenbrini, offers a range of South African food products.
The Settembrinis are originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, have been together for nine years, and got married four years ago. Not long after making the lifelong commitment to each other, they were on the move to Bournemouth.
Matteo, 28, states that the couple moved to the UK for a chance at a better life.
“I had family living in Bournemouth,” Larissa, 32, said, explaining why they moved to the south coast.
The new small business owners say there are many South Africans in Bournemouth. The Facebook-group South Africans in Bournemouth! has more than 3,000 members.
The Settembrinis speculate that beaches, and friendliness of people, has attracted their fellow countrymen and women, known as Saffas, to Bournemouth.
“The sandy beaches remind me of South Africa,” Matteo said.
Matteo and Larissa are not alone in this new venture. Rudolf and Kerry Benadie, also native South Africans, run the new business alongside them.
“I got to know Kerry through work and we soon became friends,” Larissa said. It didn’t take long before the two couples were spending time together regularly.
Rudolf, 54, revealed that he wanted to open a Biltong-shop, and Matteo expressed his longing to run his own business. Soon they decided they wanted to run a business together.
Biltong is a traditional South African snack, and the best-selling product at Benenbrini: “It is a bit like beef jerky, only it’s air-dried and cured, instead of cooked,” Matteo explained.
“Biltong is probably the single thing I missed most when I moved to the UK,” Larissa said. The snack is popular in South Africa, and surrounding countries like Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia. This is reflected in Benenbrini’s population of customers.
“Our customers are mainly South Africans, but we’ve had a few from Zimbabwe,” Larissa added.
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