Workers employed by the Vintage Group, an apple and pear producer and marketer based in the Elgin-Vyeboom region in the Western Cape, have acquired a majority share in one of the group’s farms in what is one of the most significant Black Economic Empowerment deals in the region for some time.
The Arieskraal farm, in the Elgin Valley, will be a partnership between the Vintage Group and three worker trust which gives 197 farm and packhouse workers a 52 per cent stake in the business. The Vintage Group retains a 48 per cent interest.
The farm was officially handed over to the new partnership during a ceremony at Arieskraal last week, presided over by the Western Cape MEC for Agriculture, Kobus Dowry.
The worker shareholders in Arieskraal are represented by the Arieskraal Workers’ Trust (20 per cent), the Vyebosch Workers Trust (27 per cent) and the Arieskraal Management Trust (five per cent). Vyebosch is, along with Arieskraal, one of the two original farms in the Vintage Group - established in 1998 by well-known entrepreneurs, Barbara Van den Bossche and Charl van den Berg.
The Vintage Group has recently extended its fruit farming operations significantly through purchase of the two more fruit farming entities, Twaalffontein Farm in the Vyeboom Valley, as well as Kentucky Farm in the Elgin Valley.
The 300-hectare Arieskraal produces 1,500 tonnes of pears and 7,400t of apples a year on 175ha of its area.
Arieskraal’s manager and shareholder, Peter Januarie, said: “I have been working on Arieskraal for more than three decades and all of us are excited and looking forward to being part of this new partnership in a very successful enterprise."
Vintage ceo Van den Bossche said: “We believe that the people who work in on the farms in our Group need to be part of the land transformation process and Arieskraal is our first initiative to accomplish this.” Managing director Van den Berg added: “We have a clear vision on what we need to do to keep our farming operations profitable for the future, taking into account the dramatic rise in input costs, especially prices of fuel and fertilizer. We also understand the uniqueness and past of this beautiful country South Africa and the social responsibility that we have as farm owners.”
He said the addition of two new farms to the Vintage Groups farming activities will boost exports and the ability of the Group to service its customer base. “The shareholders in Arieskraal will benefit directly as a result of this. The acquisition of Twaalffontein and Kentucky Farms mean that Vintage is becoming one of the leading growers, packers and exporters of apples and pears in South Africa. We now have 420ha of apple and 80ha of pear orchards…and we can therefore maximise our infrastructure to the benefit of all our shareholders.”
The group recently also launched the Vintage Foundation, which will be responsible for looking after the social welfare and needs of all employees working for the group and their families.
