Urban Fresh

We are a Black Youth Owned Company that works with Emerging Farmers & Strategic Partners to create sustainable Agricultural Enterprises. We Promote Local Farmers and Trade in Natural and Organic Fresh Produce.

Urban Fresh MD Fazlur Pandor, at the Lenin Drive Gardens in Alexandra, wanted to use his childhood passion for farming to change the relationship between Alexandra and Sandton by acting as the aggregator and developing the skills of the community. Pandor’s love for farming stemmed from when he was a small child farming with his family in Botswana. He previously worked in the corporate world and for himself for a while before he decided to take the big step to venture into the farming and agricultural industry, specifically focusing on the production and distribution of fresh organic crops.

On his way to work every day he would pass the Lenin Drive Gardens, which was previously an illegal dumping ground. With the aim of promoting and developing the skills of small farmers who struggled to remain sustainable, Fazlur and his business partner Rogan Field decided to form Urban Fresh to manage and mentor other small farmers in and around the community. Urban Fresh used the “mother and sister farm” concept, where they trained and assisted farmers on four plots of land referred to as the “sister farms”, gathered their crops, and combined them with the produce in the Lenin Drive Gardens, referred to as the “mother farm”.

The farm is now sponsored by Food and Trees For Africa and, in partnership with the City of Joburg, has up to six cooperatives working under it, providing employment to more than 30 people and providing the community with more than 50% of their produce at reasonable prices.