Western Cape Business 2017 edition

OVERVIEW

OVERVIEW Cape a competitive advantage in the food and beverages sector. A sophisticated transport infrastructure system allows it to service international markets. Famous Brands has bought a Western Cape brand in its drive for greater backward integration. Lamberts Bay Foods supplied Famous Brands restaurants with chips for two decades. With its purchase from Oceana, Famous Brands now has greater control over one of the vital items on the menu of its 26 restaurant brands, including Wimpy, Steers, Fishaways and Mugg & Bean. Lamberts Bay Foods sources potatoes from all over South Africa, but its proximity to the potato-growing Sandveld region is helpful. A meat-processing plant in Cape Town supplies the group with meat patties, ground beef, chicken cubes and fillets. The Famous Brands logistics centre in the Western Cape services 308 restaurants six days a week. British American Tobacco, which has about 65% of the legal domestic market, has its administrative headquarters at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. The wheat-growing areas of the Swartland host several mills such as Sasko’s facility in Malmesbury. Bokomo has several manufacturing facilities: Atlantis (Weetbix cereals); Epping (oats and baking facilitiy); Ndabeni near Pinelands (Moir’s Jelly and custard and instant puddings); Worcester (dried fruit and cake mix); Bonnievale (Werda salads); Malmesbury (Sugarbird glace fruit and jams). Safari Vinegar is based in the Strand and there are two Heinz manufacturing plants at Wellington and Atlantis. Two of the biggest chickenprocessing facilities are located on the N7 highway to Malmesbury (Tydstroom) and on the N1 to Worcester (Rainbow Chickens). The Western Cape has about 16 000 commercial pork sows and produces a quarter of South Africa’s milk. Willards has a factory in Goodwood, in nearby Parow there is a Simba factory and local chip and snack manufacturer Messaris, which has been in operation since 1898, has a facility in Elsies River. Nestlé produces condensed milk and milk powder in Mossel Bay and canned pet food in Cape Town. Tiger Brands makes mayonnaise in Bellville and have WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2017 102

OVERVIEW also invested heavily in its prepared meals plant in Cape Town. SABMiller’s Newlands brewery is one of the busiest in the country as it is responsible for providing product for a very large geographical area. Coca-Cola bottler and distributor Peninsula Beverage has three plants, at Parow, Athlone and Vredendal on the West Coast, and employs 1 300 people. Bashew’s cooldrinks has been a Cape Town favourite since 1899 and the company’s returnable bottle celebrated a 40th anniversary in 2010. Quality Beverages is a much more recent entrant to the market but its two main products, Jive and Aqua Blue, are doing well. The Ceres Beverage Company (TCBC) has three major divisions producing fruit juices, concentrate and carbonated soft drinks. Twizza has a factory in Bellville South. Boat building The Western Cape boat-building sector is concentrated in greater Cape Town. Several companies are internationally competitive in the catamaran and yacht markets and there is a good spread of firms making large custom boats, inflatable boats and commercial craft. Associated sectors include sail-making, engines, repairs and masts. Key export markets include the USA, Europe and the Caribbean with increased interest being shown from Asia and Australia. Nautic Africa makes larger vessels, including patrol, defense, oil and gas platform, and commercial vessels. It is also active in service and support, parts and spares and vessel leasing and management. Robertson & Caine’s manufacturing facility in Woodstock produces three boats a week for the international market. With a staff complement of 1 350, a record of having launched more than 1 300 vessels and a subsidiary company in Tampa, Florida, the company is a world leader in power catamarans and sailing catamrans. Atlantis is home to Admiral Boat Manufacturers and Phoenix Marine, both specialist catamaran manufacturers, and Celtic Yachts who make catamarans and cruising yachts. Ullman Sails makes sails in Maitland while Two Oceans Marine Manufacturing constructs its catamarans on the Foreshore. The Whisper Boat Building Academy is located at the False Bay TVET College. ONLINE RESOURCES Cape Town Boatbuilding and Technology Initiative (CTBi): www.ctbi.co.za Cape Chamber of Commerce: www.capetownchamber.com National Agricultural Marketing Council: www.namc.co.za National Department of Trade and Industry: www.thedti.gov.za South African Boatbuilders Export Council (SABBEX): www.sabbex.co.za South African Textile Federation: www.texfed.co.za Wesgro: www.wesgro.co.za 103 WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2017