#BLACKINDUSTRIALISTS
Minister Rob Davies, the IDC and Woolworths back K9 Pet Foods
THE Department of Trade and Industry (dti), Woolworths and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) officially opened the doors of K9 Pet Foods’ new 3 600m² factory premises in the Western Cape on Friday.
The opening is testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of a team of black women who put to the test the intent of the Black Industrialist Programme initiated by the dti and Woolworths’s commitment to meaningful contribution to socio-economic transformation.
After working in pet food production for 20 years, aspiring entrepreneur Fazielah Allie, the managing director of K9, purchased a small and struggling business specialising in frozen pet food in 2014.
Having worked with Woolworths before, Allie then approached Woolworths in the hope of turning her newly acquired business around by securing a partnership agreement.
“Our priority was to leverage on a pet food opportunity to advance our import replacement strategy in order to replace providers of imported products and services with local black suppliers.
“Knowing Fazielah’s experience and entrepreneurial spirit, we recognised that there was an opportunity to partner with her with the aim of establishing a South African produced supply of our Woolworths branded canned and pouched pet food,” said Zinzi Mgolodela, the head of transformation at Woolworths.
With three black women at the helm, K9 Pet Foods was an ideal fit for the Woolworths enterprise and supplier development programme, which matches potential blackowned businesses to opportunities in the Woolworths supplier base.
Various customised interventions, including financial and advisory support, were given to help the entrepreneurs in the programme to grow their businesses and create new jobs. As a result, and over the past three years, K9 has grown from 11 to 32 employees.
Thanks to the partnership agreement to supply Woolworths, Allie was able to secure the funding from the dti’s Black Industrialist’s Incentive Scheme to the value of R20 million, and then an additional R31m from the IDC.
The funding has been used to expand their operation and purchase the latest, state-of-theart machinery so that they can meet Woolworths’s production requirements.
“The funding of this project not only assists in achieving the IDC’s objectives of facilitating job creation and import replacement, but is also an opportunity for K9 to facilitate innovative technology which they have specifically designed for Woolworths,” says Lizo Ntlhoko, regional manager for the IDC in the Western Cape.
Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies said Allie, as well as financial director Candice Stewart and operations director Shireen Davids, were shining examples of the transformation that government can achieve through the Black Industrialists programme, with the support of the private sector and the country’s development finance institutions.
Davies said the supply of the K9 Pet Foods range to Woolworths stores was one of the positive examples of how inclusive growth and localisation of industry should work in South Africa.
“Industrialisation is vital to the South African economy and Africa and through the many legislative and policy levers there is a need to shift structures, systems and institutions that result in a more inclusive economy.
“Also, one of the key focus areas for the economy in being competitive locally and globally, requires that we build on the existing capacity, capabilities and processes to enhance the manufacturing efficiency within the various sectors of the economy,” Davies added.
The Black Industrialist Scheme is an initiative designed to benefit black industrialists with more than 50 percent shareholding and management control in the targeted sectors, of which the agro-processing sector is one.
The scheme now has more than 40 industrialists that are beneficiaries of the programme. They are conducting businesses across various sectors of the economy such as automotive, pharmaceuticals, technology and agro-processing.
According to Davies, the goal is to reach 100 black industrialists by March 2018.
“We are very proud of Fazielah – she has embraced the principles of partnering in the Woolworths supplier base, delivered products ahead of schedule and lives our brand values.
“She is dedicated and committed to producing innovative and quality products,” he said.
“These are attributes that we value and are at the core of our business as we strive to meet our customers’ expectations,” Mgolodela said.
“The official opening of our factory is a huge milestone for us,” said Allie. “We are grateful that the dti, IDC and Woolworths believed in us.
“And we are determined to forge ahead to grow the company and make a meaningful contribution in growing the country’s economy and creating jobs,” she added.