Supreme Poultry to remain in the North West, after talks with government

Supreme Poultry, a division of Country Bird Holding, will remain in the North West after airing out its concerns with the government.

Supreme Poultry’s executive management said it had invested a lot of money in the North West and would continue operations despite poor service delivery problems plaguing the North West.

News that Supreme Poultry was considering shutting down its operations came after a stakeholder meeting led by Premier Kaobitsa Maape and Deputy Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Obed Bapela.

The primary objective of the meeting was to find lasting solutions to several problems raised by the chicken supplier.

During talks, Supreme Poultry CEO Brendon de Boer raised concerns over water interruptions and the impact of electricity outages due to load shedding.

Company operations had also been disrupted by protests from a sector of the community, which had resulted in intermittent disruptions to production.

De Boer said the company was seeking effective law enforcement to ensure continuity of operations.

“Supreme has invested significantly in the North West in the North West Province and with the support of government
would like to maintain this investment and where possible look at further investment,” said De Boer.

De Boer said Wednesday’s engagement strengthened the relationship between the government the company.

Premier Maape promised to regularly hold stakeholder engagements with the chicken supplier to ensure all outstanding issues were resolved.

The Premier has established an interdepartmental war room that will monitor service delivery problems and attend to them promptly.

Supreme Poultry currently employs more than 3,300 people and operates in the Free State and North West provinces.

The company is a fully integrated poultry operation with breeder facilities, hatcheries, broiler sites and processing plants.

The company operates hatcheries and abattoirs in Bloemfontein and Mafikeng. It slaughters between 1.2 million and 1.4 million birds per week, with a capacity to increase this to 1.8 million per week.

Both provinces have serious delivery problems that include poor road conditions, garbage collection backlogs and sewage spillage in various municipalities.  

In June, Dairy group Clover shut down the country’s largest cheese factory in Lichtenburg, in the North West. The diary producer blamed “ongoing poor service delivery” for the decision.

The company said it suffered huge losses due to long-standing water and electricity disruptions.

Clover has moved its Lichtenburg production activities to Queensburgh in Durban, where it already has a plant.

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