CAPE TOWN, May 20 (ANA) – The trade and industry department (dti), Woolworths, and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) this week officially opened the doors of K9 Pet Foods’ new 3600m² factory premises in the Western Cape.
“This opening is testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of a team of black women who put to test the intent of the black industrialist programme initiated by the dti and Woolworths’ commitment in contributing meaningfully to socio-economic transformation in South Africa,” the dti said in a statement.
After working in pet food production for 20 years aspiring entrepreneur Fazielah Allie – MD of K9 – purchased a small and struggling business specialising in frozen pet food in 2014. Having worked with Woolworths before, Fazielah then approached Woolworths in the hopes of turning around her new business by securing a partnership agreement.
“Our priority was to leverage on a pet food opportunity to advance our import replacement strategy that seeks 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,” Woolworths head of transformation Zinzi Mgolodela said in the statement.
“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 black-owned businesses to opportunities in the Woolworths supplier base. Various customised interventions, including both financial and advisory support, help the entrepreneurs in the programme to grow their businesses and create new jobs. Over the past three years, K9 has grown from 11 to 32 employees.
“Thanks to the partnership agreement to supply Woolworths, Fazielah was able to secure much-needed funding from the dti’s black industrialist’s incentive scheme to the value of R20 million and then an additional R31 million from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). This funding has been used to expand their operation and purchase the latest state-of-the-art machinery so that they can meet Woolworths’ production requirements,” the dti said.
“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,” IDC Western Cape regional manager Lizo Ntlhoko said.
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said Allie, 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”.
“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 and capabilities and processes to enhance the manufacturing efficiency within the various sectors of the economy,” Davies said in the statement.
“The official opening of our factory is a huge milestone for us,” Allie said. “We are grateful that the dti, IDC, and Woolworths believed in us. We are determined to forge ahead, continue to grow the company, and make a meaningful contribution in growing the country’s economy and creating jobs. We have grown from producing 25,000 units/month to 40,000 units with the first Woolworths order and we project to further increase considerably by the end of this year.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
