In 1824, a small bakery in Cape Town opened its doors heralding the start of what has today grown into a leading SA consumer goods company with a rich legacy of manufacturing heritage South African brands. Now, in 2024, Premier Group Limited proudly celebrates its 200th birthday.

During those years, Premier has enjoyed many highs and lows – including the listing of Premier Food Industries on the JSE in 1984, and subsequent delisting in 2005 – but its brands have stood the test of time.

The acquisition of Premier in 2011, by its long-term shareholder Brait PLC, marked the start of a strategic transformation that has defined the journey beyond consumer staples into a diversified array of products. Premier’s strategy hinged on two pillars, namely fixing the existing business, which was experiencing financial difficulty, and looking for suitable acquisitions that could diversify the group’s offering. Premier’s current CEO, Kobus Gertenbach, left Brait at that time to assist with the turnaround; first as CFO and later as CEO. The company’s capital base had been neglected, and investment in critical manufacturing infrastructure and investment in the brands had been overlooked.

In the years that followed – under the stewardship of an exceptionally experienced board and executive team that was built around a common set of values and with clear purpose – the business underwent a turnaround, regaining momentum and accomplishing the value creation story it exhibits today.

‘Premier heads into its third century with extraordinary people and world-class facilities making a difference in the everyday lives of its consumers,’ says Gertenbach.

In March 2023, Premier listed again on the JSE, returning to the bourse after an absence of 18 years, and raising R3.6 billion of secondary capital for its shareholder, Brait.

In March 2024, an additional 15 million ordinary shares were placed in the market, which remained significantly oversubscribed at the closing date. The placement increased the size of the free float from approximately 23% to 34%.

Premier currently manufactures more than 40 brands and, of the portfolio, BB Bread is the oldest, registered in 1851. Premier’s market-leading Snowflake flour is the second-oldest, registered in 1884 by the Port Elizabeth Steam Company, which would later merge with Attwell’s Bakery and ultimately become the Premier Group.

Its baking division comprises celebrated national and regional bread brands, such as Blue Ribbon, BB Bakeries, Star and Mister Bread. Its maize brands include Iwisa, Nyala, Super Sun and other regional favourites.

In 2013, Premier entered the confectionery business by acquiring Manhattan Sweets and the Super C brand, which was supplemented in 2021 with the acquisition of Mister Sweet. Further to this, as part of the expansion strategy initiated in 2012, Premier acquired Lil-lets,enabling the entry into the home and personal care market, both locally and in the UK.

In 2015, Premier expanded its African footprint into Mozambique with the purchase of CIM, a leading food-producing company with a diversified product range, including wheat flour, maize meal, pasta, biscuits and animal feed. It was with these acquisitions that the groceries and international division was born, and the transformation from a traditional staple-food-manufacturing business into a leading consumer goods packaging company was progressed. In June 2024, Premier acquired 30% of Goldkeys, a leading rice importer and packer based in Durban.

Integral to Premier’s success over the past 10 years has been a sustained investment in its strategic assets. Premier has committed R6 billion of capital investment into state-of-the-art infrastructure to ensure its operations are cutting edge in terms of technology; that it has sufficient capacity to meet demand; and that it’s compliant with the regulatory and health and safety requirements. This investment, made in alignment with its strategy of being brilliant at the basics, has enabled Premier to deliver best-in-class efficiencies and execution required to extract enhanced returns for its shareholders.

Premier’s operational footprint of 30 accredited manufacturing sites extends across SA, Eswatini, Lesotho and Mozambique. Its millbake division sites include 13 bakeries, seven wheat mills and four maize mills, one of which is the largest maize mill in the southern hemisphere. In its groceries and international division, Premier operates seven manufacturing facilities – two sugar confectionery and one home and personal care, as well as manufacturing facilities for pasta, animal feed, biscuits and maize-based beverages.

Premier services both the formal and informal markets via 28 distribution depots enabled by a sophisticated logistics capability performing more than 50 000 deliveries every day. This extensive distribution footprint is supplemented by a merchandising capability in all the major retailers, with a presence in more than 4 000 outlets in SA and the surrounding countries.

Premier exports 14 of its brands to 41 countries throughout Africa, the UK, Ireland, the US and the Middle East.

Its people are, however, Premier’s biggest asset. It employs more than 8 600 people without whom the success story that Premier enjoys today would not have been possible. Premier’s unwavering commitment to its purpose enables the group to empower its people, as well as the communities it operates in.

Gertenbach and his management team have invested a large amount of time in Premier’s people. Key to Premier’s people strategy is cementing a strong and inclusive culture rooted in dignity and equality and retaining and attracting competent, resilient and agile thinkers. Over the past 10 years, Premier has provided the following:

• 77 000 training attendances, across a variety of programmes, amounting to a direct investment in people development of in excess of R180 million
• An enterprise supplier development programme empowering 78 entrepreneurs through skills training and ownership in bakery logistics, creating more than 128 jobs
• 95 CEO bursaries for children of employees as well as higher education study assistance to 276 employees
• Providing 576 youths with access to different apprentice, intern and graduate programmes at a cost of R19 million
• Empowerment to 275 disabled youths through a learnership programme assisting with upskilling and improving employment prospects.

Premier is in the process of accrediting its own technical development centre focusing on critical and scarce skills development. All apprentice programmes will be administered through the multipurpose development centre.

‘Our human capital, leadership skills and investment in people and know-how has driven our capability to leverage our facilities, make them come to life and operate at their most efficient level, and this has been the core part of our success,’ says Gertenbach.

Premier achieved a Level 4 B-BBEE rating in 2023, was certified as a Top Gender Empowered company for two years running and, in 2024, attained the number one position in the Food Producers sector in the Top 500 Company Survey.

In building the resilient, sustainable business it is today, Premier has operated with a clear purpose – its people and products make a difference in the everyday lives of its consumers.

Premier’s commitment to its purpose extends to ensuring products are always within reach of its loyal consumers, playing its part in providing food security, and also caring for and protecting the communities it operates in.

Its CSR programmes are a proud focus of the Premier team in making a difference, providing nutrition, education and community upliftment. In the past two years, Premier has donated more than R120 million of product, delivering in excess of 80 million meals and disaster relief in partnership with established charities such as Gift of the Givers, Food Forward and SA Harvest. Its community initiative to uplift early learning centres has impacted more than 785 centres since inception, promoting its heritage brands in the community through a force for good.

Investing in education and nurturing the next generation of leaders is ingrained in Premier’s values, supporting its centuriesold philosophy of ‘growing together’.

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