OUR STRATEGIC
ANCHORS


Robust food safety and food quality system

We are committed to energising the quality agenda, sustaining the superior quality of our product by raising the bar. We are determined to develop a quality capability that differentiates Tiger Brands from our competitors, supported by trained and talented people integrated across functions, a robust and integrated set of processes and tools, and a culture and passion for quality that permeates across the organisation.

Quality and food safety is the responsibility of all employees, particularly at site level. Execution of a standardised and central approach to food safety and quality rests with the chief supply chain officer supported by the quality and manufacturing excellence director. The quality function reports to the board through the risk and sustainability sub-committee.

This year, we invested in driving the quality agenda across the company. Quarterly self-assessments against Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) requirements and gap closeouts were driven across all our manufacturing sites. Our manufacturing facilities were audited by DQS, an international certification body, and were certified against globally recognised food safety standards FSSC 22000 and HACCP. Unannounced hygiene audits across our sites by the group's microbiologist were conducted to ensure compliance and embed the newly introduced micro and hygiene requirements.

We have continued with our robust group supplier quality management process, together with centralised procurement. The process includes supplier qualification, and is being rolled out together with the data management module, a technology platform that includes plant maintenance and improves validation. Supplier quality assurance processes are now in place for all new raw material and packaging suppliers, and we successfully delivered an online self-assessment module and incident management tool against the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) for reporting and managing quality data.

We have introduced standardised product complaints procedures and communication protocols across the group to ensure quick and decisive response times. We completed HACCP training for all high-risk sites, provided basic microbiology and sampling training for relevant factory teams, and made progress with quality onboarding and awareness training across our operations. In ensuring an adequate pipeline of skills, a centralised in-service trainee recruitment model has been implemented with a number of candidates already in place. Through our various quality initiatives, this year we have seen a 18% reduction in consumer complaints, a 35% reduction in marketplace incidents, and zero public recalls.

During FY20, we will deploy European Hygienic Engineering and Design guidelines as a manufacturing hygiene standard, deploy sensory analysis guidelines, and develop and implement metrics and processes for supplier performance measurement.

More about the safety standards applicable to our operations can be found on: www.tigerbrands.com.

Partnership with the Centre for Food Safety at Stellenbosch University

In November 2018, Tiger Brands and Stellenbosch University launched the Centre for Food Safety. The first of its kind in the country, the centre is a unique applied food science research consortium, comprising scientists working at the university and in the food industry. Since its launch, the centre has collaborated with Tiger Brands on various projects aimed at providing trusted, independent, timely and credible food safety advice, and translating research into constructive policy options.

The Centre for Food Safety operates on three pillars:

  • Undertaking scientific research and training on food safety, through collaborative multidisciplinary teams, making the results available to the public and other researchers
  • Promoting consumer education and awareness aimed at protecting people's health through the provision of trusted information and advice that enables them to make informed food safety decisions, making the results of research available by means of seminars and short courses, as well as through web pages and social media platforms
  • Providing expert advice on food safety policy: The centre uses a science-based approach, translating research into relevant and realistic policy options focusing on four strategic elements relating to: food safety policies and plans of action; food control systems; the control and prevention of foodborne diseases; and partnerships and networking.

This year, the centre has been involved in various applied research projects, including:

  • Microbiological pathogens in foods and the application of whole genome sequencing (WGS)
  • The effect of sanitisers on pathogens associated with food production
  • The investigation of listeria spp. associated with the prepared fruit supply chain
  • Survival and proliferation of listeria monocytogenes and salmonella in a South African ready-to-eat food factory
  • Implementation of food safety management systems to reduce risk of listeria monocytogenes contamination of processed meat products
  • Preventive sanitation measures to eliminate listeria monocytogenes biofilms in difficult-to-sanitise micro-environments.

As part of its community involvement activities, the centre has run a lecture series on listeriosis in South Africa, given food safety talks to prospective food science students, run a food safety discussion with a group of consumers, and undertaken an audit on food safety and hygiene at the Wine 2 Whales cycling event.

MANAGING THE LISTERIOSIS OUTBREAK AND FOOD SAFETY FOR THE LONG TERM

The listeriosis outbreak in 2018 has been a tragic event that has deeply affected the Tiger Brands family, including the board, leadership and our staff. Those who lost their lives are never far from our minds. Since the crisis, we have remained focused on two key areas: Firstly, taking clearly defined steps that will bring closure to those impacted through our proactive participation in the class action lawsuit; and secondly, to maintain the focus on moving beyond compliance and focusing on progressing the food safety agenda to embrace a source to table mindset with innovative and simple interventions that empower consumers.

PARTICIPATING IN THE LEGAL PROCESS

A class action initiated by the attorneys acting on behalf of the claimants in the listeriosis case was certified on 3 December 2018. Given the lengthy timeframe class action processes can take, the company has remained committed to ensuring that the legal process is not unnecessarily delayed in the interest of reaching an outcome for all affected parties. As such, we have supported the certification of the class action and provided R1 million to support a nationwide media campaign to reach as many potential claimants as possible. As a company, we will continue to engage in this legal process with honesty and integrity and commit to abiding by the outcomes of the court's decisions.

In recognition of the significant public interest surrounding the class action, we proactively conducted a series of briefings between senior members of the media and the lawyers retained by the insurer to represent Tiger Brands in this matter. The intention of these interviews was to support understanding of the complex legal process. Additionally, we have made a wealth of materials available on our website for anyone with an interest in the class action to follow its developments (www.tigerbrands.com).

DRIVING A MULTI-SECTORAL APPROACH TO ENHANCING FOOD SAFETY

Tiger Brands is committed to playing a leading role to forge and strengthen a multi-sectoral approach to support better food safety in South Africa. In addition to the launch of the Centre for Food Safety as reported in FY18, Tiger Brands also supported the Association for Food Scientists, Technologists and other Professionals serving the food and allied industries in South Africa (SAAFoST) 23rd biennial international congress and exhibition this year themed: Food Science and Technology for the 21st Century.

FURTHER ADVANCING FOOD SAFETY AND PROVIDING ASSURANCE OF MEAT PROCESSING

With the consumer at the heart of all we do, we have been deliberate about regaining trust through action. To facilitate better transparency of our meat processing, we introduced a seven-step quality check process that has provided transparency and assurance to consumers. To drive consumer engagement and understanding, we provided details on our Enterprise Foods website and invited consumers to engage with us on all our social media platforms directly.

Enterprise Foods adheres to Pork 360, the South African Pork Producers' Organisation (SAPPO) Farm Assured accreditation scheme that is a commitment to the consumer that South African farmers, processors and retailers all adopt best practices and processes that comply with global standards to ensure safe, fresh and affordable pork.

While not a requirement of South African regulations and is generally not adopted by other manufacturers, Tiger Brands introduced a positive release process for its ready-to-eat processed meats and only releases product into the market once every batch of finished product is tested. Additionally, we introduced a post-packaging pasteurisation process for added food safety.

CONCLUSION

As the class action moves ahead, we remain resolute and committed to acting with honesty and integrity and will continue to conduct ourselves in a manner that upholds our values. We embrace an inclusive approach to transforming the entire food value chain as part of a coordinated effort to achieve a safer, healthier, more nutritious, sustainable and efficient food system.