Providing quality maize products to Africa

In the Limpopo Province, Progress Milling has been a major supplier of maize products to Africa. With a commitment to the community and the environment, the company manufactures a variety of maize and sorghum products. Progress Milling distributes its products throughout the country and has begun expanding its products to other areas. Masenya Masenya, Corporate Communications Director of Progress Milling, says, “We distribute throughout the country but our strongest areas include Limpopo and Gauteng and we also export to Botswana.” The company currently operates 100 depots throughout the Limpopo province.

Products

Progress Milling manufactures quality products in the fortified maize and sorghum product range including: Lion Super Pure Maize Meal, Sunrise Pure White Maize Meal, Pro Star, Noko Special Maize Meal, Eagle Maize Meal, Bosveld Braai Pap ad Maele Thoro. The company also sells a Fox Range of products including Maize Samp, Maize Samp and Beans, parboiled rice, maize rice, brown and white sugar, white beans, sure bake cake flour and different kinds of animal feed including, dog, horse, and chicken feed.

Progress Community Development Program

In 1997, Progress Milling started the Progress Community Development Program which is a forum that works with and encourages rural communities in the Limpopo Province that are maize users to become proficient in the cultivation of maize. Masenya says, “We assist small farmers in enterprise and development by working with them to produce good quality commercialized crops.”

The company believes what is needed in the community is private enterprise in the form of partnerships with the government and also with previously disenfranchised communities.

“The program was and is still viewed by the provincial government as a vehicle to reach the grassroots farmers, and the gesture was shown when the MEC of Department of Agriculture Land and Environment was assigned to give a speech during the launch,” states the company website.

The program has several objectives including generating economic activity at community level, increasing household food security, creating more employment in rural areas, improving production practices of small farmers, establishing agricultural economy in the Limpopo province and uplifting the community by improving infrastructure and human development. “We are aggressively involved in assisting the communities around us,” adds Masenya.

Progress Education Trust

Progress Milling has an established education trust that was created in South Africa with the purpose of receiving funding to be used for the expenditure incurred from providing education and training. “In line with ensuring that the farmers produce quality products to secure the market and also to ensure that our local procurement is of good quality standards, we set up an educational trust, to specifically train agricultural technicians and farmers. To date we have trained more than 200 technicians of the Department of Agriculture who in turn are training farmers around the province,” states the company’s website.

The aim of the trust is to assist small-scale farmers in rural areas with skills and to give them the education and support to become successful farmers.

Standouts

Progress Milling is committed to its quality products and excels in customer service. The company is built on the success of its clients, staff and the communities in which it works.

Contributing to the mainstream economy is one of Progress Millings ultimate objectives as well as the betterment of the people and the community. “We want to contribute to the economy and to our people. We have a development strategy assisted by the government and it will give us an opportunity for growth in the future,” says Masenya.

The environment is also an important aspect of the company ethos and Progress Milling strives to maintain environmentally sound practices with a product range of chemically-free goods.

The company prides itself on doing business in a very “informal manner but using formal principles,” says Masenya. Working closely with people in the community is the backbone of its success. “We want to work closely with people and we talk the language of the people. We are more entrenched in the community and we understand that success means working closely with our clients and the people on the ground,” says Masenya.

Progress Milling takes its commitment to quality maize and sorghum products and the community seriously. With years of experience in the industry and as a major producer in Southern Africa, the company has remained a top player in the industry because of its integrity and extensive range of products.

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