Lonrho’s ambitions to expand its airfreight business in Africa have taken off with the acquisition of Grindrod PCA from Grindrod for R50 million cash. Grindrod PCA is a leading exporter of fruit, vegetables and fish from southern Africa to the global market. It has cold store and logistics facilities in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and George. The existing Grindrod PCA management team under Mike Froy will continue to operate the business on a day to day basis as it is integrated with and adds value to other Lonrho agri-logistics companies within the Lonrho Group, says David Lenigas, Lonrho executive chairman. Lonrho says it is seeing increasing demand from global retail chains in the USA, Europe and the Far East for fresh produce from southern Africa. “This is a good strategic acquisition for Lonrho, making us the largest distributor by air of fresh produce from Southern Africa to the global marketplace in a sector we see as having strong growth potential,” says Lenigas. In Lonrho’s interim report issued in May this year, Geoffrey White, director and chief executive officer, said the company’s agribusiness division had grown to contribute over 50% of Lonrho’s total revenue and “continues to see growing demand.” Lonrho sources vegetables and fruit on off-take agreements from Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa. Fish and shellfish come from Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique. “The potential for southern Africa to become a significant part of the global marketplace for fruit and vegetables is clearly apparent,” he said.
