Quantum Foods

Providing Quality Animal Feeds, Poultry and Eggs To Consumers in South Africa and Other Selected African Markets

Quantum foods provides high volumes of quality products that provide cost-effective solutions to important nutritional requirements for both livestock and human consumers.

Poultry are one of the most efficient converters of grain to protein in an economic context where food demand is increasing due to population growth while available arable land is shrinking, thus challenging future food security.

World grain prices significantly impact Quantum Foods’ profitability. As grain is the Group’s main input cost, Quantum Foods is, therefore, materially exposed to the impact of climate variability on planting conditions in key grain producing countries. The value of the Rand is a further key factor, as the prices of these commodities are determined internationally.

Other key matters include the risk of animal disease, particularly evident with the recent outbreak of avian influenza in South Africa, leading to large numbers of birds being destroyed. Performance is also subject to the direct correlation between GDP growth per capita and protein consumption. At the same time, disruptions in electricity supply affect efficiency as many of the Group’s operations run continuously.

Quantum Foods focuses on four strategic pillars: growing earnings through industry cycles; having a product and customer focus; achieving operational excellence; and enhancing a performance culture to ensure sustainability and value creation for stakeholders.

2022 was an exceptionally difficult year for the poultry industry. Record high grain prices increased the cost of sales significantly, and the substantial increase in load shedding hours led to extra costs and disruption of planned production. Further challenges included the outbreak of avian influenza in South Africa and the inability to recover these increased costs in a strained low-growth consumer environment. These factors contributed to a significant decline in earnings in the 2022 financial year.

The Group completed a second independent environmental, social and governance audit of operations in 2022 and performed exceptionally well, scoring over 90%. Other highlights included being awarded the best egg brand in South Africa for the 9th consecutive year and receiving the award for transformation at the 116th South African Poultry Association Congress.