The history of Susmans Biltong

It all began in 1979 for Susman’s Biltong when Larry Susman began making biltong for the very first time. The business took off from there and to this day the biltong they produce is a real hit amongst many, building a name for themselves as producers of ‘the best biltong in the UK’! 

The founder, Larry Susman was born and grew up in Johannesburg but came to Newhaven, the hometown of his grandparents – this is when the business really took off. He met his wife, Janet here who is also from Newhaven. Larry never intended to go into the biltong trade. His initial career goals were very different.

‘I wanted to be an architect, but I couldn’t get my Math A level, although I did try many times’. 

So, with Larry’s South African heritage and love of biltong, he started making biltong from home with a £12 budget and a handmade production line where he cured and dried the meat and sold it to friends. The handmade biltong was so popular with family and friends they decided to take over a factory at the Ole Cement Works at South Heighton. After great success with selling biltong, Susman’s Biltong expanded from 500sq ft premise to its new 4,000sq ft factory in Avis Way. 

Susman’s Biltong are best known for producing biltong but have since branched out into an extensive range of South African foods including all the meats you could think of – boerewors, beef jerky, sosaties, droewors and steaks. They also sell a huge range of South African groceries, favourites include beacon sweets, Mrs Balls Chutney and a whole range of tasty snacks. And if you’re a little unfamiliar with South African food, we’ve written a blog article all about South African food and what makes it so good! 

Fast forward 20 years, Larry and his wife, Janet along with four part-time staff have created a business that turns out 2,000lbs of biltong every week!

Browse our amazing range of South African products on our website.