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VISION
To export the best fruit to the world, facilitating the
entire process
from the farm to
the supermarket
to ensure that
the product is picked, packed and controlled according
to supermarket requirements. |
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Afrifresh started out in the industry as a leading importer/supplier of fresh produce to South Africa's major chain stores.
We supplied supermarket chains such as Pick 'n Pay, Woolworths and Checkers with a large percent of their fresh produce requirements on a national scale. Based in Johannesburg, the company was well placed to source and supply for this market and therefore able to develop a huge producer base to fulfill its supermarket programs.
Exports were a natural extension of the service we offered our producers. We wanted those producers offering a superior quality product to benefit from the prices they could receive from international markets. So using the knowledge and experience we had acquired with national supermarket programs, we began trading their fruit internationally under the South African permit system.
We had begun to prepare for the export of deciduous and citrus fruit over a year prior to their deregulation. When these lines were deregulated, the company was one of the strongest privately owned contenders in the industry. We had already established a large client base through the export of non-regulated lines and were supplying the leading importers in over thirteen countries.
In 1998 Afrifresh purchased a 50% shareholding in Fruveg (Pty) Ltd from the well known Fine family. Fruveg was the holding company of Sunpride (Cape) (Pty) Ltd, another leading fruit exporter and one of our main competitors. This merger repositioned the two companies among the top five exporters in South Africa.
Since then Afrifresh and Sunpride have built up a formidable team. The client and producer base of each company was largely complimentary in nature, increasing the combined market range enormously. Together the two companies service most of the overseas supermarkets with incredible support from our producers.
Afrifresh is very involved in agricultural development and besides assisting and supporting "emerging" growers and community farms, is farming itself on nearly 20,000 hectares of which 2,000 is under irrigation, making it one of the larger private farming operations in South Africa. The company is also involved in and committed to numerous joint-ventures with existing growers and also has large pack-houses in selected production areas.
So from humble beginnings in 1997, employing a few people, the Group has created many new jobs and opportunities, trained and assisted numerous people and has today a highly efficient team in excess of 80 people, and a turnover in excess of R1 Billion.
Most importantly, everyone in the Group is passionate about the business and looks forward to the challenges ahead.
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