This year’s Grain SA Nampo Harvest Day will feature its first-ever complete wheat mill display, courtesy of one of its yearly exhibitors, local roller mill product supplier Maize Master.
The Kroonstad-based mill provider, which specialises in milling machines and equipment, will launch an improved small system wheat mill at the event, says Maize Master manager Johann Kruger.
Developed this year, the new model is an improvement on the company’s original wheat mill, which was introduced more than ten years ago. The newer version is smaller, more compact and more affordable and will be used to produce higher-quality white bread flour, brown bread flower and cake flour.
“We try to bring a new product to Nampo every year. We want to keep expanding and to simplify the milling process for our customers as much as possible,” he says.
Besides showcasing the new wheat mill, Kruger will also demon- strate the process of a small maize mill at this year’s event.
Maize Master has been a Nampo exhibitor for close to 25 years, gaining more and more customers after the event each year, he adds.
While Kruger is keen to showcase Maize Master’s product at the event, he is also excited to see what new products the rest of the market has to offer. “At Nampo, you can find anything you need in the agriculture sector,” he says.
The improved wheat mill has already been sold, and after this year’s event, it will travel to its new owner in the Free State.
Based on the success of the original-sized wheat mills running in Mangaung and Virginia, Kruger has confidence in the new product. And while he admits wheat mills are not as popular as maize mills, as they are more expensive, he maintains that wheat mills eventually yield more profit than their maize counterparts.
“There is also not much competition when it comes to wheat mills, so we’re doing this to try to boost competition,” he says.
International Business
Over the years, Maize Master has sold products to various African countries, including Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Kenya. It has also garnered attention from clients in Australia, the US and England.
Kruger attributes much of this attention to the exposure provided by the Nampo Harvest Day each year. “Farmers from across the world come to Nampo and know exactly what they are looking for,” he says.
He adds that Maize Master has experienced consistent growth in recent years owing to an improvement in its products and after-sales services. The company and its clients have profited from the improvement, which Kruger believes is a feat in the midst of a struggling economic climate.
He states that the company would like to expand more intensively into the rest of Africa in the future, but says that, for now, the company is satisfied with current business activity.