Tiger Brands is the largest listed integrated food and health-care company on the JSE Securities Exchange, both by turnover and market capitalisation. Despite the lack of any direct black shareholding, it also tops the noncyclical goods sector.
As with many of its large listed competitors, it's more of an industrial holding company, though the common thread running through its businesses is a focus on fast-moving consumer goods.
Its brands are exceptionally well-known, ranging from Ace maize meal and Black Cat peanut butter to Purity baby foods, Lucky Star pilchards and Spar retail outlets. In health care, Panado and Myprodol are two of the company's best-known brands.
These and other brands touch the lives of millions of South Africans every day.
It is appropriate, then, that Tiger's commitment to black economic empowerment (BEE) and corporate responsibility is strong. In the sustainable development section of the current annual financial statements, this is summed up thus: "An integrated and comprehensive transformation plan addresses strategies, targets and measurement of results."
This transformation plan rests on four pillars:
- Direct empowerment through ownership and control;
- Human resources development and employment equity;
- Indirect empowerment through preferential procurement and enterprise development; and
- Corporate social investment.
A high-level transformation committee, chaired by an independent board director, drives the process and monitors results.
As far as ownership is concerned, the Public Investment Commissioner is the largest single investor in the company, with a holding of just under 12%. There is, in addition, direct BEE investment in subsidiaries, specifically fishing companies Oceana (Real Africa) and Sea Harvest (Brimstone). The group target is to have at least 10% direct and 15% indirect BEE investment in Tiger by 2008.
Though no BEE partner or grouping is actively invested in Tiger at present, the group is constantly screening potential new BEE partners in the business.
"We're looking for partners who can add value," says executive director Haydn Franklin. "We want to do the right thing and that could take time."
The selection process is made more difficult because of Tiger's diverse product range - single-product companies find it easier to select BEE partners as the symbiosis tends to be far more readily apparent.
As with ownership, 2008 is also the deadline for achieving certain employment-equity targets. Targets have been set for individual businesses and these are tracked on a monthly basis.
The process is augmented in a number of ways. Firstly, recruitment is done with the aim of advancing previously disadvantaged individuals. Apart from an in-house recruitment office, the group also makes extensive use of external recruitment agencies.
Secondly, certain incentives within the group are linked to managers achieving employment equity targets. And, thirdly, extensive training is offered to all employees but especially to previously disadvantaged individuals.
The Tiger Manufacturing Academy (TMA) provides structured learning programmes and qualifications that are designed to empower manufacturing employees with skills specific to manufacturing and generic management disciplines.
And it's not just training for the sake of it. TMA qualifications are registered with the SA Qualifications Authority and recognised by the Food & Beverage Sector Seta. The labour department has also granted learnership status to the TMA for offering these qualifications.
By September last year more than 1 000 learners had enrolled with the TMA, of which 88% were previously disadvantaged individuals. A total of 120 have completed the certificate qualification and the foundation programme.
Though the proportion of previously disadvantaged individuals at various management levels is not divulged, it is clear that Tiger has targets that will meet or exceed employment equity requirements over time. For example, excluding executive management, previously disadvantaged individuals already comprise more than a third of the Tiger Brands board.
Procurement is the most indirect form of empowerment in most organisations. A group such as Tiger has a wide range of suppliers. A detailed procurement database, including suppliers' empowerment credentials, is being established. Again, because of the great diversity of the group, there will naturally be differing degrees of success in this field.
There have been many successes in other parts of the group. One of the most memorable and long-lasting is the tomato production initiative in Limpopo Province. This was established in the 1980s. The plant procures about 75% of its tomato requirements from black farmers. Training has resulted in vastly improved yields.
