MILLYS

Millys of Machadodorp is a stopover facility on the N4, about 2km west of a small town called Machadodorp. The town is situated between Middelburg and Nelspruit Mpumalanga. The N4 carries the traffic that travels from Gauteng to the Lowveld and the Kruger National Park and back.

Due to the excellent position on the N4 with a beautiful 10 Ha dam as well as a large variety of offerings on site, Millys has become a household name in South Africa and many travelers on the N4 stop at Millys to refresh and enjoy its beauty.

At present it comprises a Caltex filling station, a shop and takeaway outlet, a sit-down restaurant, a coffee shop, a conference facility, a trout stall with jams and bakery products, overnight accommodation, a trout processing factory and an in house bakery.

All the business units work together as a large family to supply to customers a very special experience that is very different to many roadside stopovers in South Africa.

The rainbow trout played an interesting and defining role in the history of Millys way back in the early years of the 1970’s.

Having already established and built two trout farms in 1973, Wimcar Cilliers decided that selling fresh trout next to a national road like the N4, could well be successful. A wooden trout stall with a fridge was built close to the present Total garage on the N4 just outside Machadodorp, and in December 1974 the first fresh trout was sold to customers traveling on the N4. Selling fresh trout on a national highway was a first in our country as well as in the world.

It soon proved to be an excellent way of selling fresh trout and within a few years as many as 22 trout stalls along the N4 were in business. Today most of them have closed down but Millys prides itself that they have had opportunities which could sustain the early idea of selling trout on the N4 up till today.

During 1979 the farm where Millys is today was purchased by the Cilliers family to build a trout processing facility to fulfil the needs of a growing trout industry. The old wooden trout stall was transferred to a new position in 1981 adjacent to the new trout factory. It was named Millys Country Trout Stall after Wimcar’s wife Milly. The trout stall was run by Milly which soon added homemade jams, rusks and coffee and with the new much larger variety of trout products Millys soon became a very popular stop on the N4. Milly’s mother also added many products like her famous chutney and many recipes are still being made as per Granny Unice who passed away in 2013 at the age of 94. The dam wall was built in 1983 and soon afterwards the family applied for the necessary rights for a stopover consisting of the afore mentioned facilities which was granted in 1986. After years of planning and negotiation the present Millys with brand new facilities was opened in 1997 by the then Premier of Mpumalanga Matthews Phosa.

It was not always smooth riding for the family. The restaurant was destroyed in a fire in June 2011 but rebuilt to what it is today. Sadly, Wimcar’s wife Milly passed away in July 2012 a few weeks after the opening of the new Millys.

The family still strive today to make a visit to Millys a special experience with friendly service, honest food and fresh produce.

Tel: 013 256 0718 | www.millys.co.za