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Food & Beverage News

South Africa's manufacturing output down 49.4% on Covid-19 impact

By: Simone Liedtke 9th July 2020 South Africa's manufacturing production decreased by 49.4% year-on-year in April. Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reports that the largest contributors to this decline was the motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment sector, where output decreased by 98%... →

Tongaat, Barloworld appoint third party to check for material adverse change

By: Marleny Arnoldi 8th July 2020 JSE-listed companies Tongaat Hulett and Barloworld have appointed Rothschild and Co South Africa as the independent third party to evaluate whether a material adverse change (MAC) had occurred in the sale and purchase agreement terms between the companies. The sale and purchase agreement... →

Chicken producer lends support to food drive in Pretoria

By: Simone Liedtke 7th July 2020 A collaboration between the chicken industry and nonprofit organisations (NGOs) WeCan and Atterbury Trust has delivered hope to 222 vulnerable families in Pretoria in the form of food parcels. According to principal Erich Cloete, several of the families whose children attend Westerlig Primary... →

Coca-Cola Company appoints new Africa, Middle East leaders to tap opportunities

By: Schalk Burger 2nd July 2020 Beverage multinational The Coca-Cola Company on July 2 announced the appointment of Matrona Filippou as its business unit president for the Southern and East Africa region, while former Southern and East Africa region president Bruno Pietracci has taken up the position as Africa & Middle East... →

Tongaat concludes sale of Namibian assets

By: Marleny Arnoldi 2nd July 2020 JSE-listed sugar manufacturer Tongaat Hulett has announced that all conditions precedent related to the sale of its entire sugar packaging and distribution business in Namibia have been fulfilled. The company sold these assets, effective July 1, to breakfast cereal company Bokomo Namibia for... →

Famous Brands renews caution on GBK Restaurants funding

By: Donna Slater 1st July 2020 Branded franchised and food services business Famous Brands has renewed its cautionary statement in respect of GBK Restaurants and its ceasing of providing any further financial assistance to GBK. On May 20, the board of directors of Famous Brands took the decision to stop providing financial... →

JSE fines Tongaat R7.5m for prior incorrect financial statements

By: Marleny Arnoldi 1st July 2020 The JSE has imposed a public censure on sugar company Tongaat Hulett and imposed the maximum permissible fine of R7.5-million following the company’s breach of listing requirements. The breach relates to incorrect and misleading financial statements that Tongaat published between 2011 and 2018. →

Court orders parties against Tiger Brands in listeriosis lawsuit to provide testing info

By: Marleny Arnoldi 25th June 2020 JSE-listed packaged goods manufacturer Tiger Brands has received a ruling in its favour by the Gauteng Division of the High Court, in Johannesburg, compelling third parties to provide information on testing of listeria-causing bacteria. The company has been fighting a class action lawsuit over... →

Photo by Reuters
A Tiger Brands-owned Enterprise Foods factory

Patel sets regulation in place for implementation of sugar industry master plan

By: Marleny Arnoldi 24th June 2020 Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel has gazetted amendments to the Sugar Industry Agreement and South African Sugar Association Constitution. He also further designated the industry in terms of the Competition Act for an exemption, which will allow industry stakeholders to begin working... →

Food industry specialist expands to ventilator production

By: Irma Venter 22nd June 2020 Dale Automation has developed a prototype emergency ventilator, as a joint effort between its engineering department and medical professionals, to assist with the treatment of Covid-19 and other respiratory diseases. Dale Automation, based in Johannesburg and established in 1999, is active in... →

The Respirare ventilator

Massmart warns of at least 50% decrease in earnings a share

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 17th June 2020 JSE-listed Massmart was unable to trade in the majority of general merchandise categories, home improvement and liquor products for most of the month of April, which had a significant impact on its sales during that month; however, from the beginning of May it was able to gradually start trading... →

SAB increases its localisation efforts

By: Marleny Arnoldi 15th June 2020 South African Breweries (SAB) has secured a local foothold in glass manufacturing, as a result of its 35%-owned Isanti Glass subsidiary finalising the acquisition of Nampak Glass. Isanti Glass in September last year announced that it would acquire Nampak Glass for R1.5-billion. Nampak Glass has... →

Bidcorp says sales starting to recover

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 15th June 2020 JSE-listed Bid Corporation's (Bidcorp's) group sales for the week ended April 5 reached a low of 37% versus the corresponding week year-on-year, but has recovered to 65% of the sales of the corresponding week in 2019 for the week ended May 31. The company on June 15 provided an update on the... →

Bidcorp CE Bernard Berson provides an update on the trading environment across its operations for the fourth quarter of 2020, with particular emphasis on the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis

Adoption of automation, robotics expected to accelerate

By: Schalk Burger 9th June 2020 Increasingly automated processes and the use of robotics are expected to support greater production and the provision of services safely in a contactless society, says robotics multinational Yaskawa Southern Africa chairperson Terry Rosenberg. He notes that many businesses are rapidly adopting... →

Fair Cape launches yellow lid to mark renewable energy investment

By: Donna Slater 9th June 2020 Dairy products producer Fair Cape Dairies has launched a limited edition yellow-lidded EcoFresh milk bottle to commemorate the 254 155 kWh-worth of renewable energy produced at its facilities and used since October 2018. Since the Fair Cape solar switchover took place on October 24, 2018, all... →

Brait sells stake in British supermarket chain

By: Marleny Arnoldi 8th June 2020 JSE-listed investment holding company Brait has announced the sale of its 63.1% interest in British supermarket chain Iceland Foods for £115-million. The disposal is in line with the company’s revised strategy to maximise value realisation from its assets over the next five years. →

RCL warns of at least 30% slump in headline earnings owing to pandemic

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 8th June 2020 JSE-listed RCL Foods expects its headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the financial year ending June 30 to be at least 30% lower than the HEPS of 37.9c reported for the prior financial year. The Covid-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown implemented by the South African government has had a... →

Oceana records solid interim results

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 4th June 2020 Fishing company Oceana Group delivered a resilient operating performance for the six months ended March 31. Group revenue was up 2% to R3.63-billion, primarily owing to a 3% increase in revenue by its African operations, an increase in cold storage occupancy levels and the favourable impact of... →

Imraan Soomra

Barloworld, Tongaat contractual dispute to take longer to resolve

By: Marleny Arnoldi 4th June 2020 JSE-listed industrial group Barloworld has advised that it has not reached consensus with fellow-listed Tongaat Hulett about an independent accountant that is supposed evaluate the terms of a sale and purchase agreement between the companies. Barloworld in May raised a concern about Tongaat’s... →

Standard Bank, Sefa partner to help spaza shops

By: Marleny Arnoldi 3rd June 2020 Standard Bank has partnered with the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) to help spaza shops operating under the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic. The agency helps spaza shops secure government funding, which can then be used to buy stock from Sefa-approved wholesalers at discounted... →

CCBSA installs new ceramic water filtration system at its Polokwane plant

By: Simone Liedtke 2nd June 2020 Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) has successfully installed a new ceramic water filtration system at its Polokwane bottling plant. It expects the system to deliver almost R2.6-million in water savings a year. →

Covid-19 pall hangs over Nampak’s recovery prospects

By: Terence Creamer 29th May 2020 Packaging group Nampak announced on Friday that impairments of R3-billion, which related to its Nigerian and Angolan operations, had contributed materially to a slump in its interim results for the period to March 31. The outlook for the business was also uncertain, with the Covid-19 pandemic... →

Nampak CEO Erik Smuts in conversation with Engineering News editor Terence Creamer on the group's interim results and its future strategy and prospects. Editing: Nicholas Boyd

Manufacturers can use lockdown to fine-tune ERP

By: Darren Parker 29th May 2020 The priority for many manufacturers amid the Covid-19 lockdown involves “getting back to basics” in terms of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management, says ERP systems provider Syspro professional services head Doug Hunter. “This includes ensuring visibility of what is... →

TAKING STOCK OF THE SITUATION The lockdown has provided a good opportunity for companies to check their ERP systems and ensure that they are being used properly and to their full potential

Company invests in geared motors, employee training

By: Simone Liedtke 29th May 2020 A range of geared motors from Brazilian motor and controls manufacturer WEG will be available from the third quarter of 2020 to clients in South Africa and the rest of Africa from subsidiary Zest WEG. Dubbed the WG20 range, the geared motors – with benefits such as efficiency and reliability –... →

INTERCHANGEABLE SETTINGS WEG K geared units can also be equipped with a hollow shaft, output shaft, shrink disc, torque arm and mounting flange

South African wine industry on its knees as lockdown set to ease

By: Reuters 28th May 2020 Two years ago, South Africa's first black female winemaker Ntsiki Biyela watched anxiously as the worst drought in a century scorched vineyards across Western Cape. After surviving that, Biyela's small business Aslina Wines recovered and was poised for growth this year - until the new coronavirus... →

Distell welcomes opening up of sector, but calls for clarity on key concerns

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 26th May 2020 South African drinks company Distell Holdings has welcomed the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the country’s move to Level 3 of lockdown would include the sale of alcohol for home consumption under strict conditions. Ramaphosa confirmed that these conditions had not been finalised... →

Famous Brands grows full-year cash and profits

By: Marleny Arnoldi 26th May 2020 Food services franchisor Famous Brands managed to increase its cash generation, earnings a share and operating profit in the financial year ended February 29. CEO Darren Hele attributed the strong performance to the company continuing to commit resources to ensuring its offering has a strong... →

Famous Brands CEO Darren Hele

Alcohol industry submits safety protocol proposals to govt

By: Simone Liedtke 25th May 2020 The South African alcohol industry, which employes more than one-million people across the value chain, has submitted various proposals, including safety protocols for the manufacturing, distribution and trading of alcohol, to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC). South... →

Tiger Brands expects at least R500m profitability knock owing to Covid-19

By: Marleny Arnoldi 25th May 2020 Consumer packaged goods company Tiger Brands says it experienced challenges within its Grains, Groceries, Value Added Meat Products (Vamp) and Exports divisions in the six months ended March 31. So much so that its earnings per share (EPS) were down 75% year-on-year to 221c apiece, and its... →

Can maggots fuel sports drinks? South African startup thinks so

By: Bloomberg 22nd May 2020 A South African startup aims to produce high-quality protein powder from maggots for use in food products and sports drinks by the end of the year. By doing so, it will become the first company in Africa to make insect protein for human consumption. South African rivals currently harvest larvae... →

Tiger Brands expects interim earnings to decrease by at least 36% y/y

By: Marleny Arnoldi 20th May 2020 Consumer packaged goods company Tiger Brands expects its earnings per share (EPS) for the six months ended March 31 to be at least 36% lower year-on-year. EPS from total operations are expected to be between 190c and 216c apiece, which is between 75% and 78% lower than the 864c reported for the... →

PepsiCo appoints new CEO for sub-Saharan Africa

By: Donna Slater 19th May 2020 Following the $1.7-billion acquisition of Pioneer Foods in March, food and beverage maker PepsiCo has appointed current Pioneer Foods CEO Tertius Carstens CEO of its sub-Saharan Africa business, with immediate effect. The sub-Saharan Africa headquarters will be based in South Africa, which... →

Rhodes' interim performance buoyed by strong sales ahead of lockdown

By: Simone Liedtke 19th May 2020 JSE-listed Rhodes Food Group’s headline earnings a share for the six months ended March 29, 2020, decreased by 2.8% year-on-year to 31.2c, while its earnings a share decreased by 2.3% to 30.2c. Diluted headline earnings a share were down 3.1% at 31.1c. →

Astral Foods reports marginal increase in interim profit

By: Donna Slater 18th May 2020 Poultry producer Astral Foods' revenue for the six months ended March 31 increased by 4% year-on-year to R7.06-million, primarily as result of the increase in poultry’s external revenue, which contributed 79% to the consolidated revenue. Operating profit, at R546-million, increased by 8.5%... →

Covid-19 could exacerbate food insecurity, malnutrition in Africa – WHO

By: Sane Dhlamini 15th May 2020 The World Health Organization has expressed concern at the potential impact of the coronavirus on food security, which it says could worsen malnutrition in Africa. WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti has warned that the virus is threatening livelihoods and household economies... →

WHO urges African countries to prioritise malnutrition, food scarcity issues

By: Marleny Arnoldi 15th May 2020 The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed concern about the potential impact of Covid-19 on food security, which will exacerbate the already significant burden of malnutrition in Africa. WHO Africa regional director Dr Matshidiso Moeti says Covid-19 is unfolding in Africa against a... →

Long4Life delivers 'credible' full-year performance, cuts costs as Covid-19 impact starts to bite

By: Marleny Arnoldi 14th May 2020 JSE-listed lifestyle investment company Long4Life says it has delivered a credible performance in the financial year ended February 29, with trading profit up 15% year-on-year to R520-million. Headline earnings a share increased by 12% year-on-year to 43.4c. →

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