AFRICA OUTLOOK: HOW DID COVID-19 IMPACT THE COMPANY?
Corné Liebenberg, founder and CMO: “When it came to COVID-19, the pandemic didn’t impact us negatively at all, but it rather excelled our business.
“People have become a lot more health conscious, so they are less focused on fast food but more on nutrition. For example, the demand for Vitamin C-high foods shot through the roof during this period.
“On top of this, consumers are very cautious when it comes to the use of pesticides, and therefore we also sell a lot of organic and biological products. The end users want to know what produce is sprayed with what chemicals, and we are a very transparent company; we supply a lot of information so that people can literally trace fruit to the orchard it came from, right down to the individual tree, and confirm which chemicals were sprayed there.
“Back to COVID-19, obviously, as with any sector, there were small changes that occurred, such as cross-border rules, but largely it didn’t affect us badly. In general, during this time the agriculture sector did very well across the continent. Most farmers achieved great yields over the past two years, and with COVID-19’s high demand for goods, such as maize for example, the prices have stayed high even though supply increased. Enhanced yields, high demand and high prices are consequently giving farmers a greater income, which is, at the end of the day, LAC’s aim.”