More than twenty years ago Koot Jordaan Sr. built his own maize crusher to use on his farm. He laid the foundation for Roff Industries which would go on to become the only local manufacturer of medium sized maize mills in sub-Sahara Africa.

“The company was initially started when my father built his own small maize crusher for his own needs on the farm,” says Koot Jordaan Jr., Sales Manager of Roff Industries.

“From there he saw the potential to develop small maize mills, as there weren’t many options in the market. The development of the maize mills offered cost effective solutions and an opportunity for entrepreneurs to enter the maize milling industry.”

Roff Industries supplies high quality, medium size maize mills to the agriculture sector. The company provides maize mills from 500 kg/h to 4,000 kg/h according to the client’s needs. The machinery fits in most existing buildings and is installed on one floor. The plant is pre-assembled in Roff’s factory to reduce onsite installation time. A 4000kg/h plant can be erected and be operational on the client’s premises in less than six months from the time it was ordered.

About a year and a half ago, in 2012, Roff Industries launched its new R70 Maize Milling Plant. Since then the plant has become the company’s top seller, having been installed in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique with more orders received for Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania.

The Roff R70 plant offers a compact mill to the entrepreneur who is looking to enter the maize meal market and existing milling companies who wish to increase their milling capacity, with a very cost effective process. Roff’s R70 enables the client to produce maize meal at an inlet capacity of 50 to 100 tons per day, depending on the configuration of the mill setup. The plant can be set up at 50 tons and easily upgraded to 100 tons per day, or the plant can be installed at 100 tons per day from the outset.

“Over the past 15 years we have noticed that the consumer of maize meal is looking for a more refined and a better quality product,” says Jordaan. “This has led to African Milling Companies investing in more technical and high-tech equipment. As a cost effective process, the R70 Maize Milling Plant produces high quality maize meal and enables the milling company to satisfy their market’s needs.”

Roff Industries’ head office is located in Kroonstad, south west of Johannesburg. The company has a manufacturing facility that encompasses 2500 square meters and 500 square meters of office space. Roff Industries has had a presence in the maize milling industry for over two decades and the company’s expertise in design, development and local manufacturing gives them a competitive edge.

“We supply advice, onsite technical support through our four technical teams and training to our clients,” explains Jordaan. “We have also recently implemented an optional maintenance plan. As many of our clients are new entries to the market and do not always have the necessary skills and milling experience at the start of their milling business, they depend on us to be more than just a supplier.”

Roff Industries has plants operational in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Angola, Tanzania, Kenya, and DRC and as far as Eastern Europe and Belgium.

In order to supply continued technical solutions for the growing needs of the market and its clients, Roff Industries has exciting new ventures planned for 2014 and will continue to improve its existing products.

Jordaan says the business wouldn’t be successful without the company’s dedicated staff.

“We don’t see our staff as just workers,” he says. “We constantly motivate and give them opportunities to grow in their different expertise. We treat them as individuals and as a result we have hard working, dedicated staff.”