SOUTH AFRICA - Agriculture Minister Senzeni Zokwana said state veterinarians were still assessing whether South Africa's chickens should be vaccinated amid the country's worst ever bird flu outbreak. Zokwana was answering questions in the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday. Over four million chickens have been culled this year following an outbreak of highly pathogenic…
SOUTH AFRICA - Despite its warnings that its staff reduction programme would cause headline earnings to fall, Pick n Pay posted an impressive 15% growth in after-tax profit and raised its interim dividend by 12%. The grocery chain did not say how many employees had accepted its voluntary separation programme, only that "the programme enabled…
SOUTH AFRICA - Philafrica Food, a recently launched subsidiary of agricultural investment holding company Afgri Group, says it plans to transform food processing in sub-Saharan Africa through investments of between R50m and R100m over the next 18 to 24 months. CEO Roland Decorvet said on Tuesday Philafrica aimed to become a big food operator in…
SOUTH AFRICA - The Competition Commission on Wednesday referred 14 fresh produce market agents and their association, the Institute for Market Agents of South Africa, to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution in relation to charges of price fixing and fixing trading conditions in contravention of the Competition Act. This follows search and seizure operations conducted by the Commission…
SOUTH AFRICA - Taste Holdings is planning to expand its Starbucks brand over the next 18 months to enable its food division to break even. Taste chief executive Carlo Gonzaga said the expansion would be primarily to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). He said the company wanted to have 10 trading Starbucks outlets by the end of the…
SOUTH AFRICA – Poultry producers have planned to import hatching eggs from Europe, after the outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza virus commonly known as bird flu, resulted to shortages in the country. The H5N8 avian influenza virus had been detected in several countries, with South Africa worst hit triggering shortages in both…
BOTSWANA - Sefalana Holdings will invest about P200 million (R250 million, US$20 million) in a consortium for acquisition of supermarket and wholesale chains in South Africa as part of the BSE-listed retailer’s expansion plans. In a statement, the company said the largest participant in this consortium is the well-established buying group, Unitrade Management Services (Pty)…
SOUTH AFRICA - SA poultry farmers are scrambling to boost biosecurity measures to curb the spread of the virus, as government considers rolling out a vaccination programme. Speaking to Fin24 by phone on Tuesday, Greg Celliers, a veterinarian for the commercial egg divisions of the Kuipers Group, said farmers are at the mercy of nature…
SOUTH AFRICA – Leading chemical distribution company Brenntag has officially opened its South African office following the acquisition of four companies, strengthening its focus in South Africa and the region. The company has officially formed Brenntag South Africa (Pty) Ltd. following the merger of four separate operating entities: Lionheart, Plastichem, Multilube and Warren Chem Specialities,…
SOUTH AFRICA - The Eastern Cape provincial government has issued a call to the private sector for expressions of interest in forming a public-private partnership to rescue two failed tea estates. Garth Voigt at IDEC Financial Services, which was charged with the business-rescue process, said on Wednesday that a definitive rescue depended on another financial…
