De Keur

COMPANY PROFILE

2015

De Keur

+27 (0) 23 315 5603 | www.dekeur.com

company profile

A proud legacy Editorial: Rebecca Bingley

The very first De Keur farm was first purchased at a public auction over 80 years ago by founder, Tippie du Toit, for £9,600.

Today, family and quality still remains vitally important for this fresh produce agricultural company - “We are proud of our history, our heritage, and the ‘De Keur family”, Danell du Toit, Managing Director, tells IndustrySA.

With strong family ties and a long ancestral history, the De Keur Group was originally founded back in 1934 by Tippie du Toit, who acquired the ‘De Keur’ farm in the Koue Bokkeveld region for £9,600 at a public auction.

The ethos which was established all those years ago – good farming practices, a respect for all living things and embracing honesty, fairness and dignity to all men – still remains today, three generations on.

The De Keur Group currently maintains three separate businesses underneath it; De Keur Estates, which produces a wide range of fresh fruit and vegetables, De Keur Packaging, which includes the fruit and vegetable state of the art packing facilities and atMarket, the newest company solely responsible for the marketing of De Keur’s fresh produce range.

Based in Ceres in the Western Cape, the family agricultural

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business is still very much run by the family, as Danell du Toit, grand-daughter to founder Tippie, explains: “Brothers, Charl and Gys du Toit joined their father, Tippie, on the farm in 1967 and 1972 respectively, and together they formed a formidable team in the agriculture industry.

“Currently, there are four of Charl’s children and Gys’ son working in the organisation. Charl Snr and Gys handed over the reins to the younger generation in 2014. Charl Snr remains connected to the business in an advisory and mentor capacity, but sadly for the family and the organisation, his brother Gys recently passed away in early April of this year.”

STATE OF THE ART FACILITY Developing its product lines over the years, De Keur deals with a variety of fruit and vegetables, including pears, apples, nectarines, butternut squashes and onions. In 2001, the company

De Keur

purchased its fruit packing facility in Ceres, which has not only helped to extend De Keur’s presence across the supply chain but means all its produce can be packaged here with the offer open to other local producers too. Operational all year round, the facility allows De Keur to have more control over the packing and quality standards of its fruit, enabling it to provide for the exact needs and requirements of its customers.

The state of the art facility both grades, packs and handles the fruit that passes through it. The CA Complex, built in 2007 allows the company to store up to 14,000 bins over a much longer time frame, helping to ensure continuous supply of their products to customers.

Du Toit explains that De Keur is continuously updating and implementing new technologies

throughout the company and its facilities, in an attempt to improve the manual processes and ensure they are less time consuming and more cost efficient.

“We are continuously implementing new technologies and/or production methods to improve on our existing quality and quantity of produce. In the last few years we have successfully trialled direct drilling of onion seeds and will expand this trial to more hectares in the next year.

We have also started to mechanically harvest onions for certain markets, which decreases our labour costs for onion harvesting immensely.

“We have already had great success with the high density fruit orchards that we’ve been planting in the last few years, with the trees producing earlier in their lifespan, as well as an increased production

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company profile

per hectare.”

Du Toit also reveals the company’s plans to introduce a new MAF RODA apple packing machine in the fruit pack house by the end of this year.

“The MAF RODA packing machine will have the very latest technology for apple sorting by weight, colour and external quality. This decision was made to ensure adequate packing facilities for our own production expansion plans, but more importantly to incorporate the latest technology in order to optimise our packing process and ensure the best possible quality.”

A SHIFT IN THE MARKET It is this renewal and implementation of such innovative technology which helps to place De Keur in such a prominent position within the agricultural industry. With the fresh produce market starting to veer away from more traditional markets, including the UK and Europe, business is starting to move towards the Far East and into Africa. A beneficial move for De Keur, competition within the region will inevitably rise too.

“The Russian embargo on European fruit has also seen many European producers entering Africa

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as an alternative market, which has increased the competition in this market remarkably,” explains du Toit.

“Competition changes continuously in the fresh produce industry. Firstly from a production perception, access to new varietal strains is crucial in order to provide the commercial producer with a competitive edge. We continue to maintain a successful reputation with our clients, since we absolutely believe there is no substitute for quality.

“From a consumer perspective, there is in certain markets, like Europe, definitely a more discerning and environmentally concerned buyer. In order to satisfy this buyer, it is important to produce according to sustainable farming practices and to ensure that the company contributes in a socially responsible manner with the communities in which we operate.

With the market now beginning to shift more in favour of African agriculture, does Continental Africa still hold the potential as its biggest growth market over the coming years?

“Yes, this is definitely still the case, although this growth is slightly dampened by the unrest in the Horn of Africa,” explains du Toit. “We are continually looking at expanding our footprint in

De Keur

A part of the global Gerber Goldschmidt Group and serving solutions to the fresh produce industry for over 23 years, we at Gerber Fresh are experts in the pack house industry. Started in 1993, we are a division of the Gerber Goldschmidt Group (SA) (Pty) Ltd - a multi-faceted private equity investment company headquartered in Johannesburg.

The operations of our company stand firmly on the pillars of: Productivity, Innovation, Aesthetics, Cost Saving and Service Excellence.

With a head office in Midrand, a branch office in Cape Town and technical support nationally, we are in the unique situation of having to communicate with both grower/packer and retail corporates.

We support the largest to the smallest supplier with the same level of excellent service.

In order to fully service our customer’s needs, we cater for the whole post-harvest pack house process - from automated bin dumpers, to sizers & graders, computerised weighers, net and poly baggers, robotics for palletising and final wrapping & strapping.

We are involved specifically with post-harvest fruit and vegetables, supplying solutions with machinery, netting, wrapping mediums & labels. We are also specifically focused on pre-packs, 1 to 3 Kg and offer a range of solutions including shrink wrap, flow wrap, stretch wrap, netting & polybags. Our Fresh Prep division supplies a range of equipment, which compliments fresh produce through processing, slicing dicing etc., Vacuum packing, Juicing, Top Sealing etc.

Our principals are the best in their particular disciplines and are always on hand to give us support, technically and commercially. Our technicians, who are factory trained, are known for their expert service. Our key objective is always service excellence. We understand the pressures of a packer and are there to assist the all the way.

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company profile

the African continent, since we still believe that agribusinesses should find substantial markets for their products as Africa has a vast consumer base with a rising middle class.”

ATMARKET (PTY) LTD When IndustrySA last spoke with De Keur back in November 2013, Charl du Toit (Jnr) explained the company was in the process of forming a new company of the De Keur Group, atMarket (Pty) Ltd. Incorporated in December 2013, it has gone from strength to strength, helping the existing business along the value chain by exporting and marketing all of the company’s fresh produce directly to its clients located all over the world.

“By having an in-house marketing and export capability, we are able to provide our customers directly with the quality produce that they require, when they expect it,” explains Danell du Toit.

“Additionally, it also provides us with invaluable information with regards to market trends, customer needs and changes in market dynamics.

“We believe the changing nature of consumer demands and demographics means that future

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“The MAF RODA packing machine will have the very latest technology for apple sorting by weight, colour and external quality”

De Keur

agricultural production will be determined by that demand, rather than by production or the producer, as it has been in the past. Therefore it is paramount that we gather this market information early in order to make the necessary changes from a production and packing perspective to continue serving these markets more effectively in the years to come.”

With so many positive changes implemented since we last spoke with De Keur 18 months ago, it seems as though this family run company has maintained its position on the agriculture pedestal in South Africa. So, what does the future hold now?

“Growth, growth and growth,” explains du Toit. “We believe that we continuously seek to improve our quality and quantity of our produce by implementing the latest technology right through our value chain. We constantly look for opportunities within the market to increase our footprint in the agricultural industry.”

STRONG FAMILY TIES Family is evidently extremely important and has contributed a lot to the success and continued

growth of this company since its inception over eight decades ago.

“We have an amazingly motivated and talented team that is willing to take the necessary steps in order to shift the De Keur Group to the next level.

“I also credit a lot of our success to the many people who have led and worked within the business since our inception in 1934. They have provided the current generation with a successful and established organisation and a very strong brand.”

“I think a special mention of our grandfather, Tippie Du Toit and after him my father, Charl and uncle, Gys. They have always managed the business with the highest integrity and respect for people, always believed in trusted relationships with suppliers and clients, and they are known for treasuring their relationships with all of their employees.”

“We are proud of our history, our heritage, and the ‘De Keur family’. My dream is to continue this fantastic legacy to ensure a bright future for the De Keur Group,” concludes du Toit

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