By aligning its service offering with wider Libstar Group’s core values, Dickon Hall Foods has strengthened its market position to become a one-stop shop provider for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) in the retail, wholesale, out-of-home and industrial sectors.
PASSIONATE ABOUT FLAVOUR
Celebrating 25 years of operating excellence in the food industry as one of the first subsidiaries to be acquired and subsequently housed under the Libstar banner, Dickon Hall Foods continues to place innovation at the forefront of its activities, inventing new and exciting products to a world-class standard. This has long been a focus for the Company’s Managing Director, James Parkin.
Supplying and manufacturing a diverse range of condiments, chutneys, salad dressings, mayonnaise, spreads, savoury dips, and sauces and marinades from its Southern Johannesburg facility in Southdale, Dickon Hall Foods proudly upholds a portfolio of more than 250 products available in both bulk and retail pack sizes; running at an annual production capacity of 25,000 tonnes.
As the contract manufacturer for a whole host of multinational names including the likes of Nestlé, Tiger Brands, Nandos, Unilever and McDonalds, the Company has built a reputation as the trusted partner capable of “delighting and exceeding the expectations of key consumers, customers and their shoppers in selected markets in Africa and beyond”.
Alongside this strong portfolio of branded products, Dickon Hall Foods has also been producing its own range of quality goods that the Company hopes to enhance by exploring growth opportunities in selected categories and markets.
“Dickon Hall Foods is proud of its 25 years’ operating experience in the food industry, where it excels in contract manufacturing for leading food manufacturers,” confirmed the Company.
VALUE-ADD
More recently, and thanks to its rapid export-led growth strategy in selected African markets with a view to extend its presence, Dickon Hall Foods has added three additional divisions which each target a different set of products. Retailer Brands, Pasta Nova and Noodle Master were all established to capitalise on the increasing demand for new types of goods and to accelerate the Company’s innovation; while enhancing the business and creating further value for customers.
“Libstar offers its customers a wide range of products with the convenience of a single supplier with a nationwide presence, and distribution and manufacturing capacity,” commented the Group.
From its 28 business units that operate nationally across 31 sites, Libstar drives operational and supply chain excellence in order to deliver low-cost, quality products and services that offer the best value to customers across the continent.
With the slogan, ‘everyday flavours that make South African home cooking taste like home’, Retailer Brands manufactures a range of dry food products including soups, jellies, spices, baking aids, custard powder, colourants, essences and sauces under private label brands for the retail and wholesale trade in South Africa.
Formed in January, 1995 with the goal of manufacturing food products under private brand labels for the retail and wholesale trade in South Africa, Retailer Brands operates to world-class standards at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chloorkop, Gauteng, which operates in accordance with Good Manufacturing Principles as approved by the prestigious American Bakers Institute. Furthermore, its quality control assurance programme ensures that high quality standards are consistently met.
Through close collaboration with the Group’s all-important customers, Libstar was able to identify exactly what customers were looking for in terms of value-addition. Two categories that emerged were dried pasta and instant noodle products which gave birth to Pasta Nova and Noodle Master.
The former produces a wide range of short, long and soup pasta shapes which are supplied to leading retail and wholesale chains, food manufacturers and catering supply companies while the latter principally manufactures and packages instant noodles in a variety of flavours from its state-of-the-art facility in Gauteng.
HONEST BUSINESS
Striving to continue with its expansion and diversification strategy in the next three-five years, Dickon Hall Foods feels that it now has a full portfolio of goods to move into the food service subsector with. This will be a significant area of interest for the Company in the short to medium-term, while retaining its market integrity by “doing business properly, and with solid values”.
“With the objective of creating consumer, shopper and customer demand, our focus is on innovation… As a result we will be rewarded with sales, profit and value creation for our employees, customers, suppliers, stakeholders and the communities in which we operate,” the Group concluded.
By taking positive actions that align with the wider Group’s vision and mission, Dickon Hall Foods will be able to strengthen its ties locally through mutually beneficial partnerships and ultimately secure new long-term business.
