…we nourish to sustain…

Our approach to CSI is to find sustainable ways to partner with communities in need on projects that achieve long-term benefits for those communities without creating dependencies. We also aim to grow our own employees through their involvement and exposure to these projects and underprivileged communities.

As is fitting for a food producer and retailer, the major part of our CSI projects are concerned with alleviating food insecurity.

  • Our most recent and ambitious project is Limani, a joint project with Food & Trees for Africa that donates permaculture food garden kits to an initial 15 schools and a resource centre school. The project was launched at the Shikati School in Limpopo in June 2012. It addresses sustainability and food insecurity challenges by providing the opportunity to create natural food gardens in specially selected schools, as well as create entrepreneurial opportunities for some of the unemployed parents at the schools, as extra vegetables not needed or used by the school can be sold.
  • We have also previously partnered with Food & Trees for Africa to grow 6 hectares of permaculture food gardens in Ratanang in Limpopo, providing employment for 28 community members.
  • A third project with Food & Trees for Africa involves permaculture food gardens at Mafolofolo High School at Solomondale village near Polokwane. Access to nutritious vegetables has made a positive impact on the health of some of the 1 057 learners from this very poor area.
  • At the request of the Premier of the Free State, we donated food hampers in 2011 to the community of QwaQwa after it was hit by severe flooding. Adventist Development and Relief South Africa partnered us in this effort.
  • Since 2006, we have donated 169 wheelchairs to underprivileged children in the Port Elizabeth area, as part of a project with Sasko Britos Bakery and the local department of education.
  • Bokomo Foods and the JAG Foundation seek to nurture talented athletes in disadvantaged communities in the Western Cape.
  • The Ceres Beverage Company and Sasko provide bread and drinks to the cricket clinics for talented youngsters held in the Mbekweni community, near Paarl.

Enterprise development

In terms of enterprise development, the Group focuses on supporting businesses that operate in the food segment. Around R12 million was spent on support to new projects in 2011, with an emphasis on operations in primary agriculture.

Most of these investments are loans, rather than grants. For pragmatic reasons, we have decided to focus our investments in the Western Cape area.

View amd download our Corporate Giving Policy
(PDF – 256kb)