Ouma Rusks

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Ouma Rusks

Ouma Rusks (Afrikaans: Ouma Beskuit - literally "Ouma Rusks"; "Ouma" is a brand and proper noun meaning "Grandmother" ) are South Africa's best-known brand of rusks - a traditional South African snack that is dipped in coffee or (less often) tea before being eaten.

Owing to the South African diaspora it has become an iconic South African product that is consumed all over the world. It is usually marketed with the slogan Doop 'n Ouma (in Afrikaans) or Dip 'n Ouma (in South African English) (Dip a Ouma).

According to the manufacturer, the history of Ouma Rusks began in the 1939 in the small Eastern Cape town of Molteno, where the effects of the Great Depression were bringing many people to their knees. During this time, a certain Ouma Greyvensteyn and her friends attended a church meeting where ways in which to help mission work were discussed. At the end of the meeting, each of the women were given a half-a-crown coin and told to multiply it using their talents, as in the Gospel. Ouma Greyvensteyn used this money to buy ingredients in order to make rusks using her family recipe. The rusks she baked proved to be extremely popular and orders continued to be placed for her rusks.

Ouma Rusks are now owned by NOLA - one of South Africa’s leading food manufacturers and a division of Foodcorp.

Currently, the rusks are available in single, 500 g and 1 kg packs in the following flavours: