CEO Today Africa Awards

57 www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today Africa Awards 2018 SOUTH AFRICA GUY CLARKE Group Managing Director of Crookes Brothers Limited COMPANY PROFILE Crookes Brothers Limited is a southern African company with agricultural operations in the KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Western Cape provinces of South Africa, as well as in Swaziland, Zambia and Mozambique We specialise in the production of primary agricultural products, including sugar cane, bananas, deciduous fruit and macadamias. The group has also recently embarked on a long-term property development project at Renishaw (Scottburgh, KZN), which will unlock value from what was otherwise sub-optimal agricultural land. The group has a proud history dating back more than 150 years as a pioneer in the development of the South African sugar cane industry. Our long-term sustainability has been built on the values established by our founders of excellence (we do things right), integrity (we keep our promises) and respect (we care). We believe that these values are even more relevant today as we strive to play a meaningful role in creating an inclusive agricultural economy in southern Africa. It is the group’s established strategy to form partnerships with like-minded companies able to add value to the group’s operations, through the provision of specific expertise and generating economies of scale in the marketing of the group’s products. We own minority shareholdings in and have long established relationships with the Two-A-Day group which packs, processes and markets our deciduous fruit, and Lebombo Growers which provides a similar service for our banana production. Both groups are leaders in their respective fields and subscribe to Crookes’ values and ethos. We have recently concluded a similar arrangement with Mayo Macadamias to process and market our macadamia crop, and look forward to cementing a similar mutually beneficial relationship with Mayo in years to come. In recent years, we have established several successful partnerships with communities and aspirant black farmers to manage leased farms in conjunction with these groups. We are proud of the success of the partnerships which have become a major part of our South African business and make a vital contribution to transformation in the agricultural sector. We plan to continue to build on our expertise and track record in expanding our farming operations in southern Africa, balancing commodity, currency and geographic exposure. We aim to use our cane assets as a base from which to continue to diversify into a range of high value crops offering exceptional market opportunities. OUR VISION Our Vision is to be a leading player in the Southern African agricultural sector. We aim to expand our role and reputation as a leader in the agricultural sector in Southern Africa, by: • Providing regular and growing financial returns to our shareholders • Pro–actively supporting the transformation of the agricultural sector in South and Southern Africa to reduce poverty and improve food security. • Promoting skills development in agriculture, especially in rural communities. • Assisting in the upliftment of rural communities through our farming activities. We are well-positioned to capitalize on the many exciting opportunities in the region, exploiting our proven skills in project execution and reputation as a reliable partner and leader in transformation. We remain mindful however, that agriculture is a long-term endeavour and new projects, especially in tree crops may take many years to reach maturity. www.cbl.co.za