Farmer-owned agribusiness GWK on Monday unveiled its R400-million GWK Farm Foods wheat mill, pasta plant and biscuit factory in Modder River, the Northern Cape, which was was completed on time and within a deviation of less than 2% of original cost projections.
Of the R400-million, R60-million was invested in expanded silo capacity to service the new facility.
More than 400 temporary employment opportunities were created during construction, with 88 contractors and 48 subcontractors involved at different times. More than 100 permanent jobs were created at the new plant.
The new agroprocessing plant boasted a capacity of 25 t/h for wheat flour, 1.3 t/h for biscuits and 1 t/h for pasta.
GWK Farm Foods, a subsidiary of GWK, would initially produce wheat flour, pasta and biscuits under the new Nature’s Farms brand, in addition to its already established maize meal products.
GWK MD Pieter Spies revealed that other food products from GWK farms would also be brought to market under the new brand as consumer demand dictated, or where the GWK team identified opportunities to enter more categories with new products.
Spies added that the company was very selective in terms of the new product line’s route to market.
“As part of GWK’s business strategy, implementing the best technology to produce Nature’s Farms products and honouring the farmer produce was crucial in the planning phase. This has allowed us to take ownership of the value chain, to implement product diversification and to produce premium goods while keeping cost as low as possible,” he said.