The VKB Group
is a modern, dynamic agricultural enterprise that has, since its establishment in 1919, continuously focused on accomplishing solutions for the changing and diverse needs of agricultural producers and related stakeholders.
As former Farmers’ Co-operative, the basic needs for agricultural inputs, mechanisation, handling and marketing of grain, financing and insurance were addressed. VKB’s primary strategy still is to support producers to produce more efficiently and profitably by reducing producers’ input costs and optimising the value of their products. VKB’s business activities are conducted throughout the Eastern Free State and Limpopo as well as in parts of Mpumalanga, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Over time the business model was extended to integrate further in the value chain by incorporating industries as part of the Group’s strategy, and to invest where it made business sense. The focus of this strategy is to add value to the products produced in VKB’s service area, with the aim to take the product through the most effective market channels to the consumer and to win and grow the consumer’s trust through quality and established, trustworthy trademarks.
Today the VKB Group proudly boasts an extended network that consists of 29 entities, of which VKB Beleggings (Pty) Ltd (“VKB Beleggings”) is the holding company, with the agricultural activities and industries resorting within VKB Landbou (Pty) Ltd (“VKB Landbou”) and VKB Agri Processors (Pty) Ltd (“VKB Agri Processors”) respectively. VKB Landbou’s subsidiaries produce and supply packaging material, laboratory equipment, fertiliser and fuel, and deliver services regarding insurance, a cold storage facility for potato seed and an auction centre. The industries in VKB Agri Processors include a broiler abattoir, animal feed plants, white maize mills, a soya bean crushing plant, a wheat mill and bakeries. During August 2019 VKB Beleggings obtained a 21% shareholding in BKB Limited.
The Group has a unique incentive model for agricultural producers who are shareholders within VKB Beleggings. This model, according to which a substantial portion of each year’s income from the agricultural business is awarded to VKB Landbou’s stakeholders as incentive discounts, makes the business a supplier of choice in its service area. In addition to that, VKB Beleggings declares dividends annually from the profits generated by the industries (VKB Agri Processors Group), as well as the other agricultural entities.
The Group is also one of the prominent employers in rural Eastern Free State and rural Limpopo, and employs approximately 6 000 people. The Group forms the cornerstone of the rural economy in the Eastern Free State. As part of good corporate citizenship, the Group increasingly invests in initiatives and infrastructure for the benefit of the communities in which it trades.
