RCL Foods

South African consumer goods company
RCL Foods Limited
Company typePublic company
Traded as
JSE: RCL
IndustryConsumer Goods
PredecessorRainbow Chicken Ltd.[1]
Founded1960[1]
Headquarters
Westville, KwaZulu-Natal
,
South Africa[2]
Area served
South Africa, Eswatini, Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia
Key people
Paul Cruickshank (CEO)
Rob Field (CFO)
Jannie Durand (chairman)[3]
RevenueIncrease R34.9 billion (FY 2022)[4]
Increase R1.1 billion (FY 2015)[4]
Net income
Increase R751.8 million (FY 2015)[4]
Number of employees
20,479[5]
Websitewww.rclfoods.com

RCL Foods Limited is a South African consumer goods and milling company.

Founded in 1960 as Rainbow Chicken Ltd,[1] the company has its headquarters in Westville near Durban, and employs over 20,000 people.

RCL is 77.7% owned by the South African investment firm Remgro.[6] In 2017, the company announced it would be cutting its workforce by 1,350 people due to increased chicken imports into South Africa from Europe and the US following the signing of trade agreements with them.[7][8][9]

Foodcorp

In 2012, RCL bought a controlling 64.2% stake in the South African packaged foods company Foodcorp for R1.037 billion.[10] In July 2013, RCL completed its buyout of Foodcorp by acquiring a final 23.9% stake for R393 million increasing its total holding in the company to 88.1%.[11] Foodcorp was created following the merger between Kanhym and Fedfood in 1992 making it one of South Africa's largest food companies.[12]

2007 Foodcorp price fixing

In December 2012, Foodcorp voluntarily paid a R88 million fine to the South African Competition Commission for colluding with other bread producers to raise the price of bread by between 30c and 35c per loaf between 1999 and 2007. This fine reflected roughly 10% of Foodcorp's 2010 turnover in bread sales.[13]

According to the commission, South Africa's four largest milling companies collectively controlling over 90 percent of the local flour market were involved in colluding with each other. The four firms (Foodcorp, Tiger Brands, Pioneer Foods and Premier Foods) facilitated their pricing activities through secret meetings and telephone calls between employees of these firms at various venues, including churches, stadiums and hotels. The commission found that these price-fixing activities had a negative effect on both consumers as a whole as well as preventing smaller bakeries from being effective competitors.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Our History". RCL Foods. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  2. ^ "Contact Us". RCL Foods. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  3. ^ "Board of Directors". RCL Foods. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  4. ^ a b c "RCL FOODS LIMITED UNAUDITED GROUP FINANCIAL RESULTS AND CASH DIVIDEND DECLARATION" (PDF). RCL Foods. December 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Abridged Annual Report 2015" (PDF). RCL Foods. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Rainbow Farms and TSB help lift RCL Foods earnings". Business Day Live. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  7. ^ "35% of SA's poultry products from EU: Fawu | IOL". Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  8. ^ "Rainbow Chicken on a knife edge | IOL". Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  9. ^ MAGWAZA, NOMPUMELELO. "Poultry woes spark Rainbow rethink". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  10. ^ "RAINBOW CHICKEN TO ACQUIRE FOODCORP" (PDF). RCL Foods. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Rainbow Chicken acquires further stake in Foodcorp". ENCA. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Foodcorp opens innovation centre in Cape Town". Foodstuffs.co.za. 5 November 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  13. ^ Mungadze, Samuel (13 December 2012). "Foodcorp to pay R88m for collusion". Business Day. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  14. ^ MoneyWeb: "Watchdog refers wheat milling cartel to Tribunal", 15 March 2010