Business

Four years ago, Simply Bee was selling bottled honey from 240 hives. Today, the company manufactures more than 50 products from over 600 hives, selling them at 163 outlets across South Africa and exporting them to several countries. Yet every item is still handmade in Hopefield.

The Boer goat can help to make emerging farmers successful, and they also have a large local and foreign stud market.

The big grocery retailers in the UK underwent considerable growth between 1990 and 2010. In more recent years, this trend has reversed, with most of these supermarkets experiencing a slump in sales. Justin King, former CEO of Sainsbury’s UK, explains the shift in consumer behaviour driving this phenomenon, and the implications for the rest of the retail world.

Macadamia nuts are in huge demand internationally, yet global production is nowhere near meeting this. A teamwork strategy in KwaZulu-Natal is aiming to take full advantage of the growth potential of South African macadamia production.

Over the past three years, Durbanville Hills wine cellar has saved thousands of rands simply by changing the way it uses electricity. Cellar master Martin Moore talked to Glenneis Kriel about these changes.

When Simon Txoanyana – a retired SANDF member – decided to farm in 1999, he realised he couldn’t afford a commercial farm. Mike Burgess spoke to him about how he instead became a successful communal sheep farmer near Goshen in the former Ciskei, Eastern Cape.

An Eastern Cape distributor is marketing a unique maize seed pack to communal homestead maize producers with notable success. Mike Burgess visited Border Seed Distributors to investigate why this product is revolutionising household maize yield in the former Transkei.

Retired broker, Hennie Lamprecht, runs a profitable, free-range chicken farming operation.

Frans Malela from Limpopo gave up his city job to farm full time. With no government help, he became an award-winning farmer, growing maize then cotton on leased land. Today, he mentors others.

Careful financial planning is required before moving off the grid. Prof Alan Brent from the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies shared some crucial cost calculations with Glenneis Kriel.

German-born Ludwig Taschner is SA’s best-known rose grower and breeder. Mike Burgess visited his nursery, Ludwig’s Roses, north of Pretoria, to learn about the building of a business that defines the country’s rose industry.

Entrepreneur Gugu Mlipha went from being a hawker to an award-winning agro-processing farmer with a turnover of R2,4 million/year. Despite her success, she remains firmly hands-on, even driving her company’s delivery truck.

Producing above the norm is attainable with well-managed hens, says poultry and mixed farming producer Erik Naudé.

A successful lease-back transformation project in Limpopo run by South Africa’s 2014 National Farmer of the Year, the Bosveld Group, proves that not all old land reform plans need to be totally discarded in favour of new models.

A poor, deeply rural Eastern Cape community is on the brink of enjoying a revival, thanks to a project to establish a commercial farming operation amongst communal farmers. The venture is financed by investment company Wiphold.

The drought during the past summer grain production season could result in cash flow restraints for grain producers. At the same time, livestock management has become increasingly important for mitigating the effects of the drought, Annelie Coleman reports.

The farm Lushof in the Koue Bokkeveld produces stone and pome fruit on 220ha.The operation has managed to reduce its annual electricity bill by about 20%, with the help of new irrigation technology and smart planning.

Hunger remains an everyday reality for 795 million people across the globe. The vast majority of these – 780 million – live in developing regions. This year’s Universal Expo, hosted in Milan, Italy, focuses on finding sustainable solutions to end world hunger. Denene Erasmus attended the event.

Buyambo Mantashe is hip, urban and a 24-year-old Joburger-turned-farmer. Orrock Robertsen caught up with him on his family farm in the Eastern Cape to get his views on land reform and the opportunities for young black farmers.

Johan Tijssen, owner of Dicla Farm and Seed and a first-generation South African of Dutch descent, demonstrates how it’s possible to generate a multi-million rand annual turnover from just 260ha.