Limpopo Business 2016-17 edition
The 2016/17 edition of Limpopo Business is the eighth issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2007, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Limpopo province. Limpopo is unique in terms of its abundant natural and human resources, and is also one of the key drivers behind the South African economy. This edition of Limpopo Business is officially endorsed by the Office of the Premier of Limpopo.
The 2016/17 edition of Limpopo Business is the eighth issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2007, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Limpopo province.
Limpopo is unique in terms of its abundant natural and human resources, and is also one of the key drivers behind the South African economy.
This edition of Limpopo Business is officially endorsed by the Office of the Premier of Limpopo.
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OVERVIEW<br />
the eastern Mopani District contribute<br />
45% of the produce sold<br />
at Johannesburg Fresh Produce<br />
Market, Africa’s biggest market.<br />
They are also major contributors<br />
to the Johannesburg Fresh<br />
Produce Market.<br />
ZZ2 farms a collection of tomotoes,<br />
onions, avocadoes, apples,<br />
pears and cattle. It is the major<br />
brand of Bertie van Zyl (Pty)<br />
Ltd, and a world leader in tomato<br />
production, producing 160 000<br />
tons of tomatoes per year. The<br />
company’s product range appears<br />
under 12 different brand<br />
names. ZZ2 owns large farms in<br />
four areas of <strong>Limpopo</strong> Province:<br />
Mooketsi, Politsi, Polokwane and<br />
Musina; it also operates in the<br />
Western and Eastern Cape. The<br />
company provides employment<br />
to 8 000 people.<br />
Westfalia, part of the Hans<br />
Merensky Group, is the world’s<br />
largest avocado grower. It also<br />
produces significant quantities<br />
of mango, litchi, citrus and<br />
macadamia and has three agriprocessing<br />
plants in the province.<br />
Avocado oil is produced<br />
in Modjajiskloof near Tzaneen<br />
on the farm Westfalia estate,<br />
juice and guacamole (avocado<br />
purée) is processed in Politsi, also<br />
near Tzaneen, and mangoes are<br />
dried and packed at the factory<br />
in Hoedspruit. Westfalia is the<br />
leading mango supplier in Africa.<br />
In <strong>Limpopo</strong>, estate farms<br />
include Westfalia (Tzaneen),<br />
Macnoon (Modjadjiskloof),<br />
Agrivet (Morebeng) and<br />
Goedgelegen (Mooketsi<br />
Valley). Organic avocadoes are<br />
also farmed in KwaZulu-Natal<br />
Province.<br />
The Westfalia Nursery produces more than 100 000 avocado trees<br />
every year. Westfalia Technological Services is the research division of<br />
Westfalia Fruit , promoting development of new cultivars and superior<br />
avocado rootstocks<br />
Relatively new entries into commercial farming are former cooperatives,<br />
and they have proved very successful. The two most active<br />
in <strong>Limpopo</strong> are NTKLA (with its headquarters in Modimolle) and Afgri,<br />
South Africa’s biggest agricultural company, which has its headquarters<br />
in Centurion (Gauteng).<br />
NTKLA is a shareholder in Venda Roller Mills in Thohoyandou and<br />
operates 10 grain silos, 23 retail outlets, 28 flour depots and one coldstorage<br />
facility.<br />
Crops<br />
The Levubu Valley in the north is particularly fertile with guavas and<br />
macadamia nuts among the crops that thrive there.<br />
Valley Farms is a successful enterprise that grows fruits such as mangoes<br />
and guavas, and produces concentrates, purées and dried fruits.<br />
Afgri’s soya plant at Mokopane (Nedan) has increased annual production<br />
to 195 000 tons of soya beans and 60 000 tonnes of sunflower,<br />
the result of a capital injection of R180-million in 2011.<br />
Greenway Farms supplies about 45% of the fresh-market carrots<br />
consumed in Southern Africa under the Rugani brand. A R6-million<br />
carrot combine-harvester is the only one of its kind in South Africa.<br />
The revival of the Tshivhase Tea Estate has not only given South<br />
Africans a truly local tea, it has also boosted employment in <strong>Limpopo</strong>.<br />
A number of brands have been developed, including Midi Gold which<br />
is the premium blend of the estate. Like the other teas, it is processed<br />
locally at the Mukumbani Tea Factory.<br />
Letaba Citrus Processors is a part of the African Realty Trust, which<br />
also owns two large farms: Letaba Estates and Richmond Estates.<br />
The Rhodes Food Group has a canned vegetable facility near<br />
Louis Trichardt.<br />
Cotton is grown at Loskop, North and South Flats, Wiepe and<br />
Dwaalboom/Thabazimbi. There are 2 855 hectares under irrigation<br />
and a further 326 hectares of dry land operations. <strong>Limpopo</strong> provides<br />
about 32% of the national harvest.<br />
Citrus<br />
Most of South Africa’s citrus and subtropical fruit comes from the<br />
eastern part of <strong>Limpopo</strong>. Soft and time-sensitive fruits, like avocados,<br />
are exported out of the Port of Cape Town and transported to that city<br />
by truck. Citrus is taken to the ports of Durban or Maputo.<br />
47 LIMPOPO BUSINESS <strong>2016</strong>/<strong>17</strong>