Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Cape Town have partnered with brandhouse™  Beverages (Pty) Ltd, a leading premium alcohol beverage company in South Africa to assist in providing the platform for South African entrepreneurs.

Local entrepreneurs will be drawn from eleven South African towns where they will be given the opportunity to appear before an audience of fellow competitors and pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges. The panel will include the co-founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization South Africa and CEO of Raizcorp, Allon Raiz, along with fellow EO members from South Africa and a senior member of the local community.
Every entrant will get 3 minutes to deliver a pitch, 3 minutes for questions and answers, and 3 minutes of constructive feedback from the panel. The feedback is a critical component of the competition because its primary objective is to provide participants with a watch-and-learn experience and allow entrants to polish their business ideas.

The competition will culminate with finalists presenting their pitches to an audience of 320 international visiting entrepreneurs at the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation UCT conference to be held in Cape Town from 10-14 November 2010. The winner will possibly be linked with a company abroad and be awarded an all-expenses-paid trip for a week of mentorship with their host company. Prize money totalling around R90 000 is to be won throughout the competition.

brandhouse™ has come on board with a view of long-term support for Pitch & Polish because the concept aligns so well with their value and strategy of supporting the real needs of people.

brandhouse™ believes that this competition offers those entrepreneurs outside the mainstream economic centres an opportunity to gain exposure to and learn from international entrepreneurial thinking.

“Job creation and the growth of our economy will come from small business, many of them in the informal sector.  The future of South Africa lies in harnessing the informal sector and energy of South African entrepreneurs.  Many of these gems are struggling, undiscovered across South Africa in small towns and villages” says brandhouse™ CSR Manager, Phumza Rengqe.

“The aim of Pitch & Polish is to find these future business stars and help them unleash the power of their vision and ingenuity.”

Alongside brandhouse™ Beverages (Pty) Ltd, other sponsorship partners for Pitch & Polish are MTN, City of Cape Town, RMB Private Bank and SA Tourism.

“The time to invest in agriculture in Africa is now. There is substantial political will across the continent, as well as in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to develop the agricultural sector – and financial institutions such as Absa have an important role to play in investment into agriculture,” says Absa Business Bank Chief Executive, Bobby Malabie.

“South Africa has vast experience in the financial side of agriculture, and we have a lot to offer our continent in terms of our expertise. There is much scope for Absa to positively influence growth and stability in the agricultural sector, promote inter-regional economic growth and, of course, bolster food security for the continent as a whole,” adds Malabie.

“The greatest potential for growth in cultivated land is Latin America, Asia and Africa,” says Hans Balyamujura, General Manager: Africa and Stakeholder Relations for Absa AgriBusiness. But Latin America offers short-term growth potential only, and Asia struggles with sustainable water issues – leaving Africa, “where the long-term potential lies”.

Balyamujura points out that agriculture is the major employer in most sub-Saharan African countries.

“Agriculture still accounts for a large percentage (of GDP), because other sectors are in their infancy,” says Balyamujura. “The percentage that agriculture contributes to GDP diminishes as countries become more developed, but the value of agriculture’s contribution continues to rise.”

Absa’s South African AgriBusiness operation has proven itself as a sustainable model, he says, and will expand well into other African countries. “We want to leverage this expertise and presence from South Africa, into Africa.”

But Balyamujura warns that business conditions for agriculture are not always the same as for South Africa, but that Absa AgriBusiness’ offerings in other countries should be flexible enough to meet local conditions.

“For example, one challenge is that many farmers are smaller-scale producers than one finds in South Africa. Another is that most land in South Africa is freehold, but in many African countries it is leasehold, where the government owns the land and leases it to the occupants. This calls for a different approach in each situation,” says Balyamujura.

He stresses that long-term agricultural sustainability is an important factor in how Absa AgriBusiness is rolled out into Africa: “Deals have to be commercial in nature, but also carry a very strong developmental aspect to them.”

Market stability is another key factor in choosing which crops to finance, adds Balyamujura, who says: “There has to be adequate demand for primary consumption, processing or export. Also important to ensure market stability is the stimulation of intra-African trade.”

For Balyamujura, while Absa AgriBusiness faces challenges in expanding into the rest of Africa, the continent is more politically and economically stable than ever, and presents better business prospects than before.

“Where there is a problem, there is opportunity as well. Through capitalising on such opportunities, Absa AgriBusiness will play its part in developing agriculture to its fullest potential, supporting stable market conditions which in turn encourage sustainable agricultural development, creating wealth for our clients – and turning Africa into the breadbasket of the world.”

In search of a solution, SAB turned to packaging partner Nampak. The brief was “simple” – for Castle Lager, design innovative and high functioning packaging, with both tourist and local appeal, which has souvenir/novelty pack qualities and can also be used as a gift pack.

In the joint project with SAB, Nampak’s answer was to produce a custom designed, three aluminium bottle gift pack for Castle Lager. Due to the fact that this is South Africa’s first aluminium beer bottle (manufactured in SA), not to mention the uncanny colouring resemblance to a certain Marvel Comics superhero, the project was dubbed Project Ironman.

For Nampak, Project Ironman demonstrates the true essence of a total packaging solution, as the construction of the pack is a collaborative effort between three diverse Nampak divisions. The pack is also made up of three distinct packaging types, each with a specific function to perform.

At the beginning of it all is the aluminium bottle, which in itself is a first, as beer is now available in an entirely new substrate and is the first aluminium beverage bottle ever made in South Africa. The aluminium bottle boasts an exceptional print register which fares better than paper labels in the rigours of the cold supply chain. The aluminium bottle also offers a wide range of decorating options and finishes, including metallic base coats, over varnishes, shine (gloss), and matt. For packing, storing, protecting and transporting the inner cartons and bottles, a corrugated shipper box was produced. For convenience and shelf shout, there’s the lithographically printed display carton, which holds the aluminium bottles and displays them beautifully on shelf. The display carton also acts as an innovative and functional carry pack.

The aluminium bottles were produced by the Nampak Divfood plant in Durban, the corrugated boxes were supplied by Nampak Corrugated out of their Wadeville plant, and the gift pack cartons were produced by Nampak Cartons & Label’s Denver plant.

The customised tripartite packaging is an effective way to solidify brand loyalty, whilst the innovation creates visual and tactile interest amongst consumers. Globally hailed as a marketing innovation, which has brought a new substrate to beer, Project Ironman has given Castle Lager a fresh new look and is a dynamic solution for a brand that is highly active in the football space.

But what exactly do these terms mean and how can we accurately ensure that all brands are using equivalent measures?

To respond to these issues and harmonize milk goods, ISO and the International Dairy Federation (IDF) have developed a standard providing testing requirements and guidelines to determine the fat content of milk. Now in its third edition, the standard is for the first time applicable to sheep and goat’s milk, in addition to cow’s milk.

“The fat content of milk is an important quality factor, and a major determinant of the price paid to milk producers,” says Silvia Orlandini, ISO/IDF Project Leader for this edition of the standard (ISO 1211|IDF 1), “Harmonized test procedures allow the comparison of different products from various manufacturers. They also help deter and prevent the adulteration of milk designed to falsify fat content.”

ISO 1211|IDF 1:2010, Milk – Determination of fat content – Gravimetric method (Reference method), provides a test methodology to determine the fat content of milk of good physicochemical (physical and chemical) quality, including guidelines for calculation and expression of results.

ISO 1211|IDF 1 has been an important standard in the milk industry since 1984 when it was first published by ISO. The latest 2010 edition brings the content up to date with state-of-the-art developments. Originally applicable to cow’s milk, the methodology can now be used for sheep and goat’s milk, whether full fat, reduced fat or skimmed, as well as chemically preserved and processed liquid milk.

The standard will be useful to engineers and developers in the dairy industry, regulatory authorities and research institutions, and the farming sector.

ISO 1211|IDF 1 was prepared by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 34, Food products, subcommittee SC 5, Milk and milk products, in collaboration with IDF – a non-profit organization representing the dairy sector worldwide. IDF and ISO have a long history of working together to develop and jointly publish standards methods of analysis and sampling for milk and derivative products.

Some other related examples of ISO-IDF collaboration include fat content determination standards for cheese and processed cheese products, dried milk and dried milk products, evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk, whey cheese, milk-based infant foods, milk based edible ices and ice mixes, skimmed milk, whey and buttermilk and caseins and caseinates.

ISO 1211|IDF 1:2010 (IDF 1:2010), Milk – Determination of fat content – Gravimetric method (Reference method), is available from ISO national member institutes

Since the Commission’s referral of the two cartel cases against millers of flour and white maize to the Competition Tribunal, it has received numerous approaches from the firms that were involved in what seems like endemic cartel arrangements at many regions in the country. These regional arrangements involved a lot of new players that were not cited in the cases referred to the Tribunal. It appears that the regional arrangements reinforced, overlapped and completed the national cartel arrangements. As such the milling cartel is far much wider and involves many firms that were previously uncovered. The Commission has already concluded settlement terms with some of the firms that have approached it and is in settlement discussions with others.

This communiqué is targeted at firms that were part of the cartel, especially at regional level, whether or not they are cited as respondents in the current cases before the Tribunal. This gives an opportunity to largely small regional based millers involved in these arrangements to clean up their companies and settle the matters without litigation. The Commission gives the companies involved until 30 June 2010 to approach it with the aim of settling these cases. After this date the offer will lapse and the Commission reserves its right to seek maximum penalties from the Tribunal.

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Farmers can use the system to retrieve data for fresh produce, livestock, grain and fibre markets, as well as downloading selected foreign exchange rates and economic data. Farmers who have access to ‘real time’ and region specific agricultural commodities price information enjoy a definite advantage over their competitors. Local farmers have struggled with price and volume data since the abolishment of agricultural marketing boards during the 1990s.

“Only single-commodity specialists remain active in the price data space,” says Paul Makube, Manager of Agriculture Information at FNB Commercial. These include grain co-ops which feed data to organisations such as Grain SA and information supplied to members by producer organisations, for instance in the meat, milk and potato industries. Other market institutions such as the South African Futures Exchange (Safex) and fresh produce markets also generate product prices. The challenge has therefore been to provide a holistic view of the domestic produce and livestock markets.

“Since the late 1990s FNB Commercial Agriculture has taken the initiative to supply data, market analysis and relevant agriculture news to its commercial farm customers. We are ready to take this information to the next level, providing farmers with ‘real time’ useable data the likes of which is only selectively available through for instance Safex,” says Makube.

Makube adds, “We hope to use the system to build relationships between FNB Commercial Agriculture and the broad agriculture sector by providing critical information to assist farmers with operational decisions.”

FNB AgriCommodities is invaluable to a broad spectrum of players in the agricultural sector including large scale commercial farmers and small farmers alike. Other individuals and institutions include academics, students, food wholesalers, retailers and processors and even consumer interest groups who for instance need to track food inflation. Subscribers to the portal receive access to price and volume information covering a wide range of fresh produce, crops and livestock.

“Price and volume information, both current and historic, is used by farmers to make informed business decisions. Apart from assisting with day to day planning, commercial farmers also need detailed pricing information in budgets to negotiate lines of credit and other financing requirements with their bankers. Trends for specific commodities are needed in forecasting the long-term sustainability of sectors in the industry,” adds Louis van der Merwe, head of FNB Commercial Agriculture.

FNB is already investigating ways to extend its daily ‘real time’ fresh produce prices to other commodities. The system also provides historic price and volume statistics provided by the Department of Agriculture.

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Asilia marks Agri-Vie’s first foray into the eco-tourism sector, with previous investments made by the private equity fund being predominantly in the food and agribusiness sector.

According to Herman Marais, chief executive at Agri-Vie, eco-tourism is set to experience sustained growth in Africa over the next few decades, as investors increasingly recognise the sector as being a viable and investible industry.

“While.agribusiness remains the most formalised industry in rural sub-Saharan Africa, we believe eco-tourism is ready to make a quantum leap from lifestyle and ego operators, to become a sustainable and investible industry that can add value to conservation and economic growth in the region. With such untapped potential, we are confident that eco-tourism is set to be one of the key sectors in Africa over the next 30 years.”

He adds that there are clear synergies between agri-business and the tourism sector, which provides a ready market for local food products and othe supplies. “The Agri-Vie fund’s investors recognize the commercial and developmental synergies between agribusiness and ecotourism in the rural development context of Africa.”

Another player in the sector, Wilderness Safaris, is currently in the process of listing on the stock exhange in Botswana and Johannesburg, providing further evidence of the evolution of the eco-tourism sector into an investible industry.

He says Asilia – which generates around $10-million in revenues annually from four safari camps and a luxury lodge – is an important part of this growing trend. “Asilia brings a much-needed corporate approach to the business of eco-tourism, which will help to improve the profile of tourism industry in Africa and enable it to build scale and harness the potential of the region.”

Marais says that the investment also remains consistent with Agri-Vie’s stated mandate of making investments into sustainable businesses that are not just profitable, but also have a positive impact on the region in which they operate by promoting socio-economic development. “Asilia already employs more than 350 people in the region, who in turn support hundreds more household members. Business revenues also fund conservation institutions and projects, thus helping to secure Africa’s wildlife legacy.”

Jeroen Harderwijk, Managing Director of Asilia, says the capital from the investment will be used to finalise ongoing projects as well as helping to fund the group’s expansion plans. “We are already one of the top three players in the eco-tourism market in Tanzania and we are in advanced talks to move into the Kenyan market.

“We see both these markets as a core part of our future strategy and our vision is to become a regional leader in the eco-tourism business.”

He says the tourism industry in Tanzania and Kenya currently attracts 800 000 and 1 million tourists each year respectively. “The world is finally waking up to Africa as a prime tourism destination and we expect these numbers to grow from their current base as the region gains further recognition in global markets.”

Harderwijk says one of the keys to operating successfully and sustainably in the East African region is to establish strong relationships with the local communities. “There are unique challenges that one faces in creating tourism establishments in these regions and to deal with these effectively, it is vital that companies work with the local people, not only by providing much-needed employment but also by incorporating them into planned developments in order to have a positive impact on the region.”

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The three-month programme, which will equip 50 learners with skills designed to maximise workplace learning, was launched in May at Distell in Gauteng, and will be rolled out to Distell Western Cape and Appletiser.

The ‘Effective Behaviours for work’ (EBW) course is the first of its kind, in that it has a syllabus and curriculum and can be assessed and certificated. It was developed on the findings of global research among employers and training providers into the weaknesses in training provision. Says Edexcel’s London-based international business manager Simon Young: “It was found that soft skills are difficult to identify, let alone certificate, but they are necessary for an employee to perform his or her job at the right time and in the right way.

“We developed a programme that encompasses competences that make for a well-rounded employee with the skills, knowledge and behaviours to operate effectively. These include social awareness, self motivation and self-regulation.”

The course comprises two units developed for the UK National Qualifications Framework. ‘Progressing your career’ seeks to develop learner autonomy and promotes understanding of how skills, strengths and talents contribute to choice of career and direction and an appreciation of the value of using others’ feedback for a deeper understanding of strengths and weaknesses. It emphasises the importance of a proactive approach to career development and -planning and draws the distinction between job and career.

The second phase, communication, covers a wide range of interpersonal skills, from delivering confident and articulate presentations, effective persuasion and response to questions to reading the emotional cues of others and tailoring approaches to the needs of the audience.

As a prelude to the pilot, Edexcel delivered the programme to five trainers selected by FoodBev SETA in December 2009.

This initiative is geared for production floor employees, but the EBW programme is also suitable for higher level application, says Edexcel Africa’s regional development manager Jonathan McGill. “Pioneer Foods will implement a more advanced programme later in the year for 17 graduates preparing for the world of work.”

The pilot project continues the well-established association between FoodBev SETA and Edexcel, which saw the latter selected as one of the SETA’s institutes of sectoral or occupational excellence (ISOEs). Edexcel, in turn, afforded five of the SETA’s qualifications international status, giving graduates a globally recognised certificate. This accreditation will be extended to all FoodBev SETA qualifications in due course.

“Soy-based foods are one alternative to other proteins such as meat and eggs that can be a great addition to a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet,” said Dexter Jumo, South Africa business development manager — Solae, a world leader in soy ingredients for nutritious products and a joint venture between DuPont and Bunge. “In fact, soy protein, specifically 25 grams a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, is clinically shown around the world to lower cholesterol and thus reduce the risk of heart disease.”

“The benefits of soy protein – a high-quality, plant-based protein comparable to meat, milk and eggs that is derived from soybeans – are still relatively unknown to consumers but it really does pack a nutritional punch,” said Jordan Rizetto, regional marketing director for Sub-Saharan Africa — Solae. “Nearly 40% of the seed is comprised of high-quality protein and it also contains all of the nine essential amino acids to support human health.”

Solae’s soy ingredients are already found in a variety of products such as baked goods, beverages, nutrition bars and beverages, meats, vegetarian meals and more across the world, including a number of well-known South African foods.

””It is vital that people begin to take the issue of heart disease seriously. HIV and AIDS aside, heart disease and stroke are the number one killer in South Africa and eating unhealthy foods is a major contributor to this,” said Jumo. “People don’t have to give up foods they enjoy, they just need to find healthier alternatives such as soy-based foods.”

In the US, the Food & Drug Administration approved soy protein as a means of helping to reduce cholesterol, an important factor in reducing the risk of heart disease, in 1999.

South Africa also approved the claim in 2002, stating diets containing at least 25 grams of soy protein (roughly 4 servings) daily and a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels.

“Eating the wrong foods is just one of a number of factors that can increase the risk of heart disease,” said Michelle Braun, PhD, a member of the nutrition science group — Solae. “Someone that smokes or doesn’t exercise regularly is also more at risk of heart disease. It is important to review your lifestyle and identify ways in which you can make small changes, particularly if you have a family history of heart disease.”

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Judging for the awards took place earlier this year in January in New York, where all entries were judged strictly on technical achievement. There were around 600 entries across 13 categories from around the globe.  In total there were 56 Gold awards, which places Nampak Flexible in the top 10 percentile in this esteemed competition. The awards Nampak Flexible won were in the mid-web category.

The FTA is one of the world’s leading authorities in the flexographic printing industry and its annual international awards competition is a high profile indicator of the finest international players in flexographic printing. As such, the two awards serve as testament to Nampak Flexible’s focus on innovation, quality and technical excellence in Flexographic printing.

The Imana Cream of Vegetable Soup & Imana Chicken Noodle Soup packs had already won a gold and silver medal respectively at 2009’s local FTASA (Flexographic Technical Association of South Africa) Awards and were chosen to be entered into the international round of the competition.

The stylish Imana packs are printed out of Nampak Flexible’s Cape Town plant in Ndabeni, making use of seven colours, a varnish, solvent inks and central impressions to provide some serious printing quality and ensure striking shelf appeal. Nampak Flexible achieved excellent register on a difficult substrate and the award winning packs were noted for the good printing of fine detail.

According to Robin Moore, Nampak Flexible Managing Director, the awards are an exceptional achievement and a clear indication that Nampak Flexible’s level of quality and technology is up there with the best in the world. Robin is proud of his technical and support teams who make this level of excellence a part of their daily activities in their quest to make Nampak Flexible a world-class organisation.

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