TONGAAT HULETT
STRIVING FOR A SWEETER TOMORROW Tongaat Hulett delivers the sweet taste of sustainability with responsible sugar production and community centred initiatives across Southern Africa Writer: Phoebe Harper | Project Manager: Kyle Livingstone
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ugar production in South Africa is big business. In the harvest year of 2020/2021 alone, the country produced over two million metric tonnes of sugar – a significant contribution to the global production recorded during that time of 179.9 million tonnes. Yet few major players in this R16 billion South African industry can boast the same prevailing commitments to ethical production, sustainability and a communitycentred outlook as Tongaat Hulett. 204 | Africa Outlook issue 94
Extending beyond South Africa alone, Tongaat Hulett comprises a network of sugar operations spanning sub-Saharan Africa, with a presence in Mozambique, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, in addition to its headquarters in KwaZulu-Natal. Originally formed from a merger between Hulett Corporation Limited and the Tongaat Group Limited, the company benefits from the joint longevity of both enterprises, dating back to the 1800s. The company as it is known today has had a primary
listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange since 1952. Tongaat Hulett’s significant asset base and operational footprint across Southern Africa comprises operations within both sugar production, and property. In terms of sugar, Tongaat Hulett’s factories have an output of over 1.5 million tonnes a year for each factory, with activities centred on cane growing, sugar milling, and refining. These assets have established the company as a leading agri-business producing a wide range of refined carbohydrate products from sugarcane including sugar ethanol, cattle and animal feeds. With complementary segments of the business in agriculture and
