Home
FacebookSearchMenu
  • Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • News
  • Features
  • Knowledge Library
  • Columns
  • Customs
  • Jobs
  • Directory
  • FX Rates
  • Categories
    • Categories
    • Africa
    • Air Freight
    • BEE
    • Border Beat
    • COVID-19
    • Crime
    • Customs
    • Domestic
    • Duty Calls
    • Economy
    • Employment
    • Energy/Fuel
    • Events
    • Freight & Trading Weekly
    • Imports and Exports
    • Infrastructure
    • International
    • Logistics
    • Other
    • People
    • Road/Rail Freight
    • Sea Freight
    • Skills & Training
    • Social Development
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • Trade/Investment
    • Webinars
  • Contact us
    • Contact us
    • About Us
    • Advertise
    • Send us news
    • Editorial Guidelines
Africa
Economy

Canning factory closure ‘a catastrophe’ for farmers and workers

24 Jun 2022 - by Lyse Comins
0 Comments

Share

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • E-mail
  • Print

Farmers’ unions have warned of the devastating consequences of Tiger Brands’ plans to close its Langeberg and Ashton Foods Division fruit canning factory, which will leave thousands of people in the Western Cape without jobs.

Agri SA Executive Director, Christo van der Rheede, said farmers had appealed to the government to intervene as the food manufacturer had “shocked personnel, producers and clients” by giving them notice of a 60-day consultation period regarding its intention to close the canning factory. This comes after failed attempts by farmers to explore solutions to buy the factory from the food producer.

“Few people realise the real impact that this decision would have on the community, producers, the industry and agro-processing in the Western Cape. This is a huge concern for Agri SA,” said Van der Rheede.

The Langeberg and Ashton factory is the biggest of only two fruit canning factories in South Africa.

“The world-class factory plays a vital role in enabling South African canned fruit to occupy the niche position it does in the world market. South Africa is ranked in the top seven fruit canning countries in the world by production, and the factory brings in hundreds of millions of rands in foreign currency,” said Van der Rheede.

The division produces canned fruit and fruit purées largely for export markets, including Europe, China, Australia and Japan.

He said producers had made urgent requests to the Western Cape provincial and national governments to intervene.

“Given the essential contribution of this facility to the national and provincial economies, government needs to provide assistance by partnering with the parties to facilitate investment in the facility,” he said.

Tiger Brands announced that it would disinvest from the factory in May 2020 to focus on the African market.

“A consortium of 160 producers began negotiations with Tiger Brands to acquire the factory, but the consortium will require a further R200-300 million to close the deal. With the latest announcement from Tiger Brands, these producers have been placed in a nearly impossible situation – they must secure the necessary funds in less than 60 days. Without support from government and co-operation from Tiger Brands, the producers’ initiative will fail and the fallout will be catastrophic,” he said.

The factory’s main sources are cling peaches, Bulida apricots and Bon Chrétien pears from 2 250 ha of canning fruit orchards. The orchards have been planted specifically for canning in the Klein-Karoo, Ashton, Robertson, Bonnievale, Breërivier, Wolseley and Ceres areas. Van der Rheede said approximately 300 farmers would have no alternative market for these fruits if the factory closed, as the other fruit canning factory in South Africa, owned by the Rhodes Food Group, is already producing at full capacity.

“These farmers would have to destroy the orchards. The impact of the announcement is already being felt as labour brokers report that their teams are sitting at home as producers stopped pruning after the Tiger announcement,” he said.

Tiger Brands said in a statement that 250 permanent jobs and 4 300 seasonal jobs would be affected at the peak of the season.

“The factory is the life support of the Ashton community and without it the community faces socio-economic disaster. The Langeberg and Ashton factory is also the biggest single source of income for the Langeberg Municipality. In addition to factory workers, the facility provides employment for thousands of farmworkers in Ashton and in the production regions. Just over one permanent job opportunity is associated with each hectare of fruit orchard and 2 250 permanent farm workers’ livelihoods are now in jeopardy,” he said.

“Agri SA is concerned that the closure of the factory would be a socio-economic disaster for the region, with ripple effects throughout the value chain. At a time when job creation and economic growth are desperately needed for the maintenance and recovery of the national economy, the Agro-processing sector cannot afford this closure.” 

He said it was essential that Tiger Brands “comes to the negotiating table” with producers and factory workers to find the best possible solution.

Tiger Brands confirmed in a statement on Friday that it had embarked on a “consultation process with permanent and seasonal employees” in line with the Labour Relations Act after a growers’ consortium had been unable to secure funding to buy the division by the deadline of March 31, 2022.

“This follows the end of an exhaustive process to find a buyer for the business by way of an extensive, professionally managed local and global search in which interested parties were unable to secure the required funding to meet the business's working capital requirements. It is anticipated that the consultation process with affected employees will be completed within 60 days,” said Tiger Brands.

The company added that it was also speaking to the government “to explore sustainable commercial solutions” to protect the deciduous fruit and canning industry.

Tiger Brands said its reason for exiting the business was to align its portfolio with the group’s future growth aspirations in Africa and to focus on manufacturing, marketing and distributing everyday branded food and beverages.

“Largely servicing export markets beyond the African continent, the deciduous fruit business operates in an industry where trade barriers impact the competitiveness of local produce. Fluctuations in exchange rates and global crop yields add further volatility,” the firm said.

The canning factory was opened more 70 years ago and supplies fruit for Tiger Brands’ KOO brand as well as international brands like Silverleaf and GoldReef.

Sign up to our mailing list and get daily news headlines and weekly features directly to your inbox free.
Subscribe to receive print copies of Freight News Features to your door.

Deployment of new RTGs at PoCT speeded up

Logistics

A general cargo vessel carrying a second batch of new RTGs is expected imminently.

Yesterday
0 Comments

ULCV successfully docks at Ngqura, makes history

Logistics
Sea Freight

“This achievement solidifies our status as a significant player in the maritime industry.” – TNPA

Yesterday
0 Comments

Trump tariffs – July 9 deadline draws nearer

Imports and Exports
Trade/Investment

One of the countries that has already learned its fate in the face of punishing duties is Vietnam.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Fuel price hikes a strain for consumers

Energy/Fuel

Double-digit price increases and a higher fuel levy will place financial pressure on households.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Pork for citrus? South Africa faces tough US trade choice

Imports and Exports

If SA’s disease-free status is compromised, PRRS could come at a heavy cost to local pork producers.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Carrier launches direct flights to London Gatwick

Air Freight

The new route enhances the Kenya-UK Economic Partnership Agreement.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Creecy reiterates rail cargo volume targets

Logistics
Road/Rail Freight

The intention to re-establish rail as the backbone of transport is fundamental to reforms in SA.

Yesterday
0 Comments

Resilience required for air sector disruption – executive

Air Freight

Air traffic in the region is expected to rise by an average of 6.4% annually.

02 Jul 2025
0 Comments

Insight of the week: legally ditching higher duties

The actual practice can be traced back to 1882, when an importer in the United States had sugar coated with molasses.

02 Jul 2025
0 Comments

How to avoid the fear of being evaluated

Freight & Trading Weekly
Logistics
Skills & Training

Lifelong learning has become the norm across all economic sectors, both in the UK and globally.

02 Jul 2025
0 Comments

Skills needed to unfreeze African growth potential

Logistics

Growth in demand for cold chain efficiencies is being driven by economic development and rising income.

02 Jul 2025
0 Comments

Iran seeks full control of Russian Caspian Sea terminal

Logistics

The port handles a broad range of goods, including grain, timber, metal products and fertilisers.

02 Jul 2025
0 Comments
  • More

FeatureClick to view

Cold Chain Logistics 4 July 2025

Border Beat

Forum tightens net against border corruption
25 Jun 2025
Police clamp down on cross-border crime
17 Jun 2025
Zim's anti-smuggling measures delay legitimate freight operations
06 Jun 2025
More

Poll

Has South Africa's ports turned the corner?

Featured Jobs

New

Road Logistics Pricing Specialist

Tiger Recruitment
East Rand
02 Jul
New

Operations Manager

Lee Botti & Associates
Cape Town
02 Jul
More Jobs
  • © Now Media
  • Privacy Policy
  • Freight News RSS
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Send us news
  • Contact us