Durban businessman Sithembiso Nzimande thought the meat product reselling and distribution company, of which he is MD and a shareholder, was finished when the riots broke out last year.
Nzimande's business, Thompson Distribution and Resellers, has a partnership with Gen4Foods, in Sea Cow Lake, Durban, for the Thompsons Tasty Meats brand.
The factory, which was completely gutted by looters, directly affected Nzimande's operations.
“The cost of the damage to the factory was in excess of R80m with nearly 200 employees’ livelihoods at stake. Thompsons, a brand that had been around since 1860 was staring down the barrel but has managed to rise, literally from the ashes, to provide quality, value-for-money meat products to the communities of KZN and the rest of the country,” Nzimande said.
“As a business, we had to rebuild but we knew it would mean starting from scratch in some areas. The Gen4Foods facility was burnt to the ground.
“The facility itself took a total of five months to rebuild with a great deal of effort and hard work from management, staff and contractors.”
Gen4Foods operations director Siyabonga Mbatha said: “The facility and Thompsons Brand has taken some time to get back to full production, but customers and consumers are extremely happy that the product range is back in the market.”
Nzimande said: “The emotions were of devastation, sadness and fear. After a few days, one realised the monetary damage, loss of jobs and secondary business and those were some of the most difficult days. Courage and determination were needed in all areas for us to get back up and running and fortunately we succeeded in doing so.”
Matt Bielovich, sales director of Gen4 Foods, added: “Fortunately insurance policies had been in place, but due to the delays in processing Sasria claims, we could not wait for payment to come through, so we had to obtain finance to start the rebuild. Every day out of the market put jobs and livelihoods at risk and we could not afford for this to happen.”
But it has not all been doom and gloom.
“We reworked our business model and engaged other formal structures in the informal sectors and municipalities, and we were able to increase our reseller reach to just under 300 individuals and businesses,” he said.
“One of our biggest resellers, Musa Buthelezi, has already surpassed sales he did before the riots.”
JULY RIOTS | Building back better
Image: Sandile Ndlovu
Durban businessman Sithembiso Nzimande thought the meat product reselling and distribution company, of which he is MD and a shareholder, was finished when the riots broke out last year.
Nzimande's business, Thompson Distribution and Resellers, has a partnership with Gen4Foods, in Sea Cow Lake, Durban, for the Thompsons Tasty Meats brand.
The factory, which was completely gutted by looters, directly affected Nzimande's operations.
“The cost of the damage to the factory was in excess of R80m with nearly 200 employees’ livelihoods at stake. Thompsons, a brand that had been around since 1860 was staring down the barrel but has managed to rise, literally from the ashes, to provide quality, value-for-money meat products to the communities of KZN and the rest of the country,” Nzimande said.
“As a business, we had to rebuild but we knew it would mean starting from scratch in some areas. The Gen4Foods facility was burnt to the ground.
“The facility itself took a total of five months to rebuild with a great deal of effort and hard work from management, staff and contractors.”
Gen4Foods operations director Siyabonga Mbatha said: “The facility and Thompsons Brand has taken some time to get back to full production, but customers and consumers are extremely happy that the product range is back in the market.”
Nzimande said: “The emotions were of devastation, sadness and fear. After a few days, one realised the monetary damage, loss of jobs and secondary business and those were some of the most difficult days. Courage and determination were needed in all areas for us to get back up and running and fortunately we succeeded in doing so.”
Matt Bielovich, sales director of Gen4 Foods, added: “Fortunately insurance policies had been in place, but due to the delays in processing Sasria claims, we could not wait for payment to come through, so we had to obtain finance to start the rebuild. Every day out of the market put jobs and livelihoods at risk and we could not afford for this to happen.”
But it has not all been doom and gloom.
“We reworked our business model and engaged other formal structures in the informal sectors and municipalities, and we were able to increase our reseller reach to just under 300 individuals and businesses,” he said.
“One of our biggest resellers, Musa Buthelezi, has already surpassed sales he did before the riots.”
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