Pioneer Foods
 | |
| Public | |
| Traded as | JSE: PFG |
| Industry | Food |
| Headquarters | Tygerberg, South Africa |
Area served | Southern Africa, Nigeria, United Kingdom |
Key people | PM Roux (CEO), ZL Combi (Chairman) |
| Products | Bokomo Cereals, Sasko Flour & Bread, White Star Maize Meal, Ceres Fruit Juices, Liqui Fruit, Spekko, Safari |
| Revenue | R 17,700 million (2014)[1] R 18,748 million (2015)[1] |
| R 1,680 million (2014)[1] R 2,153 million (2015) | |
| Website |
www |
Pioneer Foods (JSE: PFG) is a South African packaged goods company. It operates in South Africa as well as two other African countries and exports a number of its brands globally. The company's core business is the production, distribution, marketing and selling of a diverse range of food, beverages and related products. It was created following the merger of two other South African paged goods companies (SASKO and Bokomo) in 1997. It was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange ("JSE") in 2008 under the ticker PFG. The company has a strategic agreement with and is part owned by Sekunjalo Investments as part of Pioneer's Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment plan.[2][3]
The Pioneer Foods brand portfolio includes Bokomo cereals, Liqui-Fruit, Ceres Fruit Juice, SASKO bread, Safari dried fruit, Spekko and White Star.[4]
SASKO was renamed Essential Foods while Bokomo Foods and Ceres Beverages were consolidated into a single management structure as Groceries. The international portfolio is a well-established business boasting long-standing relationships in core export markets. This business was reorganised and made a stand-alone business, Pioneer Foods International (PFI), in 1 October 2014 so as to help drive growth in export markets.
Quantum Foods was unbundled from Pioneer Foods in October 2014 and is listed as a separate entity on the JSE.
2007 bread price fixing
In 2010 Pioneer Foods was fined R195 million by the South African Competition Commission for colluding with other bread producers to raise the price of bread by between 30c and 35c per loaf in 2007. This fine reflected roughly 10% of Pioneer owned Sasko's 2006 turnover in bread sales.[5]
According to the commission South Africa's four largest milling companies collectively controlling over 90 percent of the local flour market were involved in colluding with each other. The four firms (Premier Foods, Tiger Brands, Foodcorp and Pioneer Foods) facilitated their pricing activities through secret meetings and telephone calls between employees of these firms at various venues, including churches, stadiums and hotels. The commission found that these price-fixing activities had a negative effect on both consumers as a whole as well as preventing smaller bakeries from being effective competitors.[6]
References
- 1 2 3 "Pioneer Foods Integrated Report 2014 Realising Our Potential". pioneerfoods.co.za. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
- ↑ "SKJ – Sekunjalo Investments Limited – Sekunjalo concludes investment in". 2011-12-09. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
- ↑ "SEKUNJALO: Ready for more?". Financial Mail. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
- ↑ "Tiger Brands sharpening its claws". Financial Mail. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
- ↑ "Pioneer Foods fined R195m for cartel role". Mail and Guardian. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
- ↑ MoneyWeb: "Watchdog refers wheat milling cartel to Tribunal", 15 March 2010